For nearly a decade, Young Chautauqua performances at the Estes Valley Library have featured young performers reimagining the lives of historical figures.
Not this year.
This year, performers will inhabit fictional characters such as Owl from “Winnie the Pooh” and Achilles and Medusa from Greek mythology.
Weekly rehearsals have been held at the library on Thursday afternoons with live costumed performances scheduled for Feb. 21, Feb. 28, and March 1 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the library’s Fireside Theater. A special event will follow on March 7.
Katherine Dumont is the person in charge of transforming kids into history. The Estes Park teacher and acting coach has about 20 young people performing. That means they had to pick a person to inhabit, write a speech or story, practice delivering it, and find or make an appropriate costume or props.
At a recent practice session, Dumont asked students not to read their scripts but to try to remember what they memorized. About half of the nine students present had at least partially memorized their pieces.
Diana Franklin spent the practice with her two children, performers Zelie and Sam.
Sam, a sixth-grader, is playing Reepicheep from “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C.S. Lewis. Reepicheep is a warrior mouse.
“I remember fondly when Aslan restored my tail, a mouse’s glory and honor,” he proclaimed from the makeshift stage in the Hondius Room.
Suggestions were made for Sam to motion to his tail when talking about it. Dumont also asked him to speak up.
“Louder,” she said. “You are a warrior!”
The other student-performers agreed that Sam was doing a good job memorizing his script and providing details to describe his story.
His sister, second-grader Zelie, became Owl in “Winnie the Pooh.”
“I am the smartest animal here in the 100-acre wood,” she said from the stage. “I can spell my name W-O-L.”
The other students loved the humor in her piece, and Dumont said a carefully placed microphone would help with the child’s projection.
Addy Bien, a 12th-grader, became Medusa.
Her volume, dialogue, and emotion were praised, but she had not finished memorizing her piece. Dumont urged her to come into the audience and lock eyes with someone to add a little drama during the live event.
The longest piece, delivered without misstep, was “Achilles” by Raleigh Waters. It’s a lucky thing he knew his lines several weeks before the public performance, because he has to build a Trojan horse as a prop.
“If I can find enough cardboard,” he said.
Fifth-grader Camille Mabry chose to become the Grey Lady at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, while eighth-grader Ellie King will be a dramatic Coraline from the movie “Coraline.”
The mood at the practice session was light-hearted, with students encouraging each other to think about blocking, projection, on-stage movements, and delivery.
But mainly it felt like fun.
Don’t miss the final presentations at the library in February.