Newton, NC – The Catawba County Library System is pleased to welcome the Green Bean Players, the Green Room Community Theatre’s traveling troupe, to perform at all seven library locations as part of its Summer Learning curriculum.
The Green Bean Players always make their shows boisterous and interactive, giving kids the full effect of live theater, complete with costumes, sets, props, puppets, and more! This season’s show, The Commedia Cinderella, is a fun version of the fairytale classic that amps up the royal action and the family drama.
Commedia dell’arte, the Italian theater tradition that animates this production, is based on improvisation and spontaneity. It also relies on stock characters that are readily familiar to everyone and can grant audiences a shortcut in putting the pieces of a story together. Commedia is especially entertaining because it takes advantage of the circumstances at hand, creating an in-the-moment scenario that’s relevant for that particular production and the people who are present.
Kids find commedia’s looseness of structure a great joy because it doesn’t force the narrative or depend too heavily on conventions. The actors’ essential work lies in maintaining the story while allowing for the unexpected. The comedy is physical, bold, and usually over-the-top in impact. It’s impossible not to enjoy it!
If you’d like to give your children the gift of laughter and live theater, make sure to bring them to one of the library’s performances. We can guarantee that there will be hijinks galore and more than a little sound and motion – perfectly in keeping with how kids respond to the world!
The remaining performances are as follows:
Sherrills Ford-Terrell – Tuesday, July 10 at 1pm
St. Stephens – Tuesday, July 10 at 4pm
Maiden – Thursday, July 12 at 1pm
Claremont – Thursday, July 12 at 5:30pm at Claremont Elementary School (3384 E Main St)
Southwest – Tuesday, July 24 at 4pm
Conover – Thursday, July 26 at 4pm
Summer Learning is an annual program that the library hosts throughout June, July, and early August. It’s intended to help kids avoid the ‘summer slide,’ or loss of skills that can happen when they’re not in school daily. Summer Learning offers programs and activities for the whole family: children, teens, and adults. For more details and to register, visit www.catawbacountync.gov/library.
For more information about library activities, please contact the Catawba County Library at 828.465.8664, at [email protected], or via Facebook. For the latest in library news, visit www.catawbacountync.gov/library, or stop by your local branch.
Photo: The cast of the Green Bean Players’ Commedia Cinderella.
