Children’s theater presents ‘Dragon Trouble’

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

After a whirlwind week, the Charles City Children’s Theatre performed the play “Dragon Trouble” on Friday morning on the Charles Theater stage.

“It was about a fairy tale kingdom where knights, dragons and princesses lived until some fairies moved in and started trouble,” said director Lynn Bauer. “All was chaos until a magician came and restored the peace.”

Bauer was assisted by Linda Hughes, while Natalie King, age 14, was junior assistant director.

“It was the most rewarding week that I’ve had,” said Bauer, who was taking the reins as director for the first time. “I loved every moment of it.”

A total of 12 children ranging in ages from third through eighth grade participated in the play, which has a week-long turnaround. Kids are given their roles and their scripts on Monday, and perform in full costume on Friday.

Children participating were Norah Wasse, Isabella Baker, Paige Pickar, Hope Pickar, Kylie Pickar, Alyana Hartman, Max Linde, Carter Linde, Elliott Linde, Fiona Kellogg, Cassie Kellogg and Roy Foster.

Bauer said that sign-ups for the play were in May, and the library was utilized to get the information out to people. The children spent last week working on the play, and also learning much about theater and the stage.

She said the children learned how a play works and learned about the curtain, sound, lights, costuming and props. They learned some basic stage acting terminology and also received a tour of the Charles Theater and learned its history.

“We also did a lot of activities to help them build a stage voice,” Bauer said. “They also learned improvisational techniques.”