Brooklyn Antonson, left, and Megan Kiffiak, perform a scene during rehearsal. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Snow White

Mad Hatter Theatre Company preparing for stage show

Nov 10, 2019 | 7:37 PM

The Mad Hatter Theatre Company at Carlton Comprehensive High School is getting ready for their festive season production of Snow White.

The cast has been practicing and preparing since the second week of September. They will be hitting the road doing a total of seven performances at elementary schools within the school division but will also be performing at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts on Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.

The cast consists of 15 students and a total of 39 in the entire production.

“It’s gone extremely well, I’m very pleased with this group,” said David Zulkoskey, Artistic Director of the Mad Hatter Theatre company.

Snow White is a pantomime type of show which involves a lot of crowd interaction.

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“We’re a made-at-Carlton type of program in terms of doing pantomime theatre here in P.A.,” he told paNOW. “We’re the only group that does it and it’s a great way to teach new kids how to interact with the audience. We know we fire a question out we’re going to get a response because the actors are charged with a mission to get the kids [in the audience] involved.”

Zulkoskey noted it’s a challenge to prepare without a crowd so the actors must anticipate how their audience will react. He said during the play the children should never be told to be quiet because they want the audience to be more involved.

“One of the most wonderful things to watch is to see little kids being engaged,” Zulkoskey said. “They’re watching it and that’s what makes the job fun and also put’s a little bit of surprise into each show because each show is a little bit different.”

The students have taken over organizing the show.

“From a teacher’s perspective this is very cool because they have been taught about theatre and now, they’re putting it into practice and literally I sit back and I watch it happen,” he said.

Brooklynn Antonson, who is playing the role of Snow White, said it’ has been fun playing the role of someone who is very enthusiastic.

“It was challenging at first, but it’s gotten a lot easier,” Antonson said.

Megan Kiffiak, who plays the evil queen, said it has been wonderful playing the role.

“There’s nothing I could do to prepare myself for this role because she is just such a well-rounded and perfect character, she is her own person,” Kiffiak said. “I read the script a lot because there was a lot of emotion in her character. You know it’s very sassy, very egotistical.”

Despite playing a very powerful role Kiffiak admitted she is a little nervous ahead of their first performance, but she knows the jitters will go away once they get started.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre.

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Ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12