Budding thespians hit the university stage

 

story and photos by Ruby Dean
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The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Academy of the Arts Community Connection presented Afternoon of One Acts before an audience of 150.

Four performances of one acts were performed in the afternoon of Nov. 14 at the Breedlove Auditorium. Productions included "School Daze," "The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse,” “The Fox and The Crow” and "Once Upon a Playground." Admission was free.

In the act of “The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse,” the town mouse had been invited to come for a visit to the country mouse’s home. They sat down to a dinner of grains out in the fields. This was very much disliked by the town mouse. He then invites the country mouse to his home in the city where they “could live better than the ants.”

During “The Fox and The Crow,” Mrs. Crow finds a piece of cheese to which she begins to eat. The Fox comes upon Mrs. Crow and uses flattery and trickery to try to take her piece of cheese. When the crow opened its mouth to caw, the piece of cheese fell out. The Fox grabbed the cheese and ate it. Moral of the story is do not trust flatterers. The two Aesop’s Fables were performed by the Primer Level (grades 1-2).

“Once Upon A Playground” is a play which takes place out on the playground where all children go to play. A new girl comes to play at the playground, but none of the other girls want to play with her. They give her excuses that she has a “funny nose.” Soon, every girl becomes aware of their own insecurities that they are worried about such as braces, being too fat or being dumb. The boys in the play are always trying to impress the girls with outlandish tales trying to compensate for their own insecurities. As all tales end happily, the girl soon finds a place where she too will fit in on the playground. This act was performed by the Junior Level (grades 3-6).

The play “School Daze” took the audience back to a day in the life of the average American middle school student. It reminds of the joys, the fears, the drama and the laughs that every young teen endures in middle school. This play kept the audience laughing as they reminisced the days of old. The play was performed by the Senior Level (grades 7-9).

Acting classes are a way for students to get involved in theatre. Through the Academy of the Arts, students develop skills including character study, movement, voice training and overall stage presence as they prepared for a one act play during the fall semester. The semester will conclude with a special night performance called the Nights of One Acts. Academy of the Arts is open to students in grades 1-9.