Youth theater camp tackles ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’

Thursday is the preview, “pay what you can” night for the Alaska Fine Arts Academy’s take on “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” The play is the product of the academy’s youth theater summer theater camp program. Ten children comprised of six actors and four stage technicians will perform a live radio play, adapted from Roald Dahl’s classic children's novel of the same name. In the spirit of old radio dramas, the actors will remain stationary on stage and entertain the audience with dialogue and sound effects instead of singing and dancing.

As an homage to the era of the book’s release and “Easter egg” for the parents, the cast’s costumes and stage’s backdrop will have a 1970s theme, complete with bellbottoms, ruffles and checkerboard tile. The story revolves around Mr. Fox outwitting and stealing chickens from three villainous farmers to feed his family. As a result, he, his family and community of animals are forced to burrow deep underground to flee from the enraged farmers. It’s been described as a whimsical tale chock-full of humor and wit.

The theater camp students have been immersed into all spectrums of theater production beyond acting. They have been learning about the history of theater, an introduction to acting, the technical aspects of sound, lighting, make-up, costumes, and so on. Behind the actors will be several sound technicians waiting for their cue. The sound team will supplement play with sound effects by using handmade tools, uniquely crafted and tested to correspond with different actions, like gun shots from popping paper bags and the sound of footsteps produced by rhythmically clanging shoes on wood. There will be dozens of sounds throughout the play and each character has their own distinct style of sound for walking.

Each actor has a main role and also plays multiple characters, each with a different voice and accent for each character. The children will have their scripts in front of them on music stands as a reference but will have their parts committed to memory. As a part of their training, the students practice various accents and dialects for their roles, including two different British accents, Received Pronunciation (RP) and Cockney; Irish; and American. Since the play is relies on dialogue instead of actions, the children were trained to refine their vocal techniques.

“They need to sell it,” said director, Jess Pervier-Brown. “Theater is all about making the best with what you’ve got.”

Pervier-Brown said that the kids have done “really well” with the voices and that they’ve “really thrown themselves” into the production. Barrett Pelent plays Mr. Bean. He said he has “more lines than I can count.” The students have been rehearsing several hours a day in the intensive summer camp. The majority of them have made friends with each other and reported to have fun working together. Ashton Trevelyan plays the “horrible” farmer Boggis. He said that his favorite aspect of acting is “being with the cast, hanging out.”

Haylee Nunez plays Mrs. Fox. She said that she enjoys “making people laugh.”

Stage manager Ariel Eveland said the camp has been an opportunity for the children to work as a team grow, not just in theater, but also with applicable “life skills.” Each kid had their own reason for joining the summer camp but they all reported to enjoying the process and want to give their parents and the public a “good show.”

“I want to make them (the audience) happy, that they made the right decision to see us,” Nunez said.

The preview, “pay what you can” show begins at 7 p.m. at the Alaska Fine Arts Academy, located at 12340 Old Glenn Highway No. 200, Eagle River.

Other showtimes:

Opening night - Friday at 7 p.m.

Matinee - Saturday at 3 p.m

Closing Night - Saturday at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

For more information, visit www.akfinearts.org/event/the-fantastic-mr-fox