Cinderella: A Pantomime
By Brady Grove, Times Reporter
Brady Grove Photo
In the spirit of Halloween, the audience was scattered with costume-clad kids who filled the Hope Community Covenant Church on Oct. 28 to see the local actors perform.
“A pantomime is a traditional English look at a story,” said the play’s director Robert Cole. “It’s an off-the-wall look at a traditional story, usually a fairy tale, and it will normally be done in a comedic style.”
Humour was a big part; however, the jokes were only one component of the show. The production featured a prompter who held up signs such as “cheer” or “yes” which got the crowd excited, particularly the younger audience members.
“With bigger audiences it can be deafening at times once they start to enjoy it,” said Cole.
Not all characters were loved. The evil stepmother played by Rosebud actress Diana-Marie Korbisser Stolz was “’booed and hissed” at every scene she was involved in – which was at least 20 times.
“It’s been a learning curve for me because every time I come onto stage I have to encourage the audience to boo me and then I have to get back into the scene” said Stolz. “The audiences have been getting better every night, booing louder and louder.”
This was Stolz’s second show with STPG. She learned her craft at the Rosebud School of the Arts where she took their four-year program.
According to Cole, the STPG has been trying to build up the local acting community by teaching kids how to act. Cinderella featured several scenes for the aspiring actors to practice their moves. When Cinderella called out to the villagers for help, the STPG kids took to the stage and performed YMCA by the Village People.
“As part of their classes we now integrate them into the show,” said Cole. “Hopefully for some of them they will come back and participate in a full show.”
The STPG will continue performing Cinderella at Hope Community Covenant Church until Nov. 4. For more information visit the STPG Facebook page.