By Jessica Anstice
John Henry Primary School’s production of ‘The Tale Fairy’ showcased at the Drum Theatre in Dandenong on Monday 17 June.
Written by John Henry Primary School staff and performed by the students, The Tale Fairy was a “hugely successful” community event – with over 1300 guests attending over the four nights.
“The kids and audience absolutely loved it,” John Henry Primary School teacher Fraser Selby said.
“A major highlight was the smiles on faces from the children and audience – the kids had an absolute ball and that is what it was all about.
“It was great to see how many families bought tickets for one night, and made sure they came again the second night because they loved it so much.”
The show featured three main characters including the dog ‘Rufus’ played student Maddison, ‘Himanhi’ played by both Elise and Emeelia and ‘Jamie’, a shared role between students Conor and Arwen.
During the play, the two children, and dog Rufus, were sucked into a fairy tale world, where the most popular fairy tale characters of all time each had their individual problems.
Sleeping Beauty couldn’t sleep, Pinocchio was a real boy and when Snow White came in contact with the dwarfs they multiplied.
The two children and their dog took it upon themselves to solve the problems.
Grade 2 student Amelia said, “Has this been a dream? I can’t believe we just did that!”
The audience found humour in watching the school’s assistant principals Mr Bickery and Mrs Broekhoff, art teacher Mrs Ferreira and principal Mrs Roberts acting as the Fairy Godmother.
“The parents said their children loved being in a real theatre and showing off their hard work though the year,” Mr Selby said.
“The parents loved the storyline of the show and enjoyed the humour.”
