Toys will spring to life on Christmas Eve and puppets will tell a French folk tale in Tree House Youth Theatre’s variety show Let it Snow.
Artistic director Matt Gould promises “a Christmas feast” for the whole family when the production opens on Friday at the Scott Block in downtown Red Deer.
Twenty-nine actors, age 12 to 17, have been exploring since September the various performance techniques they will demonstrate in Let it Snow.
“It’ll be a real mix,” said Gould, who described the show as having a bit of everything — three musical selections, two movement pieces set to music and four one-act plays.
Two of the seasonal plays were adapted by Gould, including Old Christmas Eve, to be performed with poetry in the 17th century English mummer’s tradition. While the masked mummers were originally mute, the Tree House actors will have lines, said Gould. But the play will run along the usual theme of a doctor miraculously restoring a dead person to life, and a hero patterned after St. George.
Gould also adapted the play The Sneezing Thieves from a short story by Thomas Hardy. The plot concerns a young man who is waylaid by thieves on his journey home through a forest. While they steal his horse and bind his arms, the young man later gets his revenge when he encounters the same ruffians planning to rob a mansion on Christmas Eve.
As well, the Tree House Youth Theatre actors will perform a one-act fantasy called What Will the Toys Say?, about toys coming to life on Dec. 24, and Piccola, a puppet theatre version of a French tale about a poor little girl’s hope that St. Nicholas will leave her a gift in her wooden shoe.
Let it Snow will provide an enjoyable evening of theatre and will be informative for anyone considering enrolling in Tree House classes next term, said Gould, who believes the show demonstrates the array of skills the young actors learn. The theatre group provides classes for children and youths aged six to 17.
Let it Snow runs at the Scott Block, at 4818 50th Ave., at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, 5, 11 and 12, and also at 2 p.m. on Dec. 5 and 12. Tickets are $12. To reserve, call 403-346-9399, or go online to www.treehousetheatre@gmail.com
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com