The Olney Theatre Troupe Hosts First Workshop

Christian Sanders of the Graham Regional Theatre (GRT) was at the Refuge Thursday, Feb. 7, at 4:45 p.m. to start the Olney Theatre Troupe with any children who are interested in theater from ages fourth grade to twelfth grade. Any children interested in seeing what it is like to work in a play, perform in a play or see how the process is done is welcome to signup.

“What we are trying to do now is choose a play, or a series of short plays that the children can perform in and get a feel for what it is like to be onstage, and what it takes to perform,” stated Sanders. “They can see how much work it is and how much fun it is and how much work it is.”

Sanders would like to get a list of interested students by Feb. 22.

“We are trying to find what fits well,” Sanders expressed. “The children are involved in so many things, and we want to make this as available as possible for the children that want to perform, want to learn about theater, want to learn about the process. And in doing so, they might find they enjoy one aspect of theater or another. We want them to have an opportunity to do this more than just at school.”

Sanders plans on doing a series of some of Aesop’s fables, which younger children would gravitate to since there are animal characters and it would give the older children an opportunity to act in a more serious role. The older students would get the more in-depth moral meat of the story, while the younger children would get the fun and joy out of performing in an animal role.

“This allows me to tailor what we are doing for the community instead of the community trying to fit into something we are trying to do,” Sanders said. “. So, my plan is to take some of the short pieces that I have written and some of the pieces we had before that someone else had written and find out all the children that want to be involved and where they would be the best fit. It may involve some puppets, will probably involve some makeup, animal costume and some fun costuming. Once we find out how many children want to be involved, I will put together the final show.”

The Olney Theatre Troupe will meet every Thursday at 4:45 p.m