Theatre for youth at Saint Mary's College is back! After a hiatus over the past two years, the Performing Arts Department at Saint Mary's is excited to resume its annual January Term productions for young audiences in 2023. Over the past 20 years, more than 60,000 students have attended these productions.
? This year's January production will premiere an original script,?"Earthchild and the Waking Up: An Eco-Drama for Young Audiences."?The play tells the story of a young girl who receives a message from the trees - "Help us!" - and sets out on a mythic journey to the Center of Power to relay it. Along the way she makes friends, overcomes obstacles, meets animal allies, is healed by the Mother Tree, has insights about humanity's interdependence with nature, and ultimately passes on her message to the Bigwigs at the Center of Power. Will it be enough?? Will her words fall on deaf ears? Come and find out!
? "Earthchild and the Waking Up" will include puppetry, song, music, audience participation, and inventive staging that breaks down the boundaries between the stage and the auditorium. The show's running time will be 60 minutes, with access to an online pre-show environmental literacy workshop created by the Saint Mary's students involved in the production. The workshop's key theme will be the web of inter-being that connects humans with the rest of nature.
? The show will run Jan. 24-27 at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Admission to those shows is $8 (all ages). Additional shows will run Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. and Jan. 26 at 4 p.m., and admission to those shows is $12. For tickets, visit?stmarys-ca.edu/earthchild. For field trip reservations, ADA & other questions, contact Tara Sundy at?tms8@stmarys-ca.edu.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA