BRATTLEBORO-Director Shannon Ward sits with me in the lobby of the New England Youth Theatre (NEYT) within walls covered in documents of its 25-year past. Photos, posters, ephemera: It's eye candy for a theater lover.
As junior company members bounce through the front doors, Ward adeptly fields my questions and myriad others from enthused young actors in The Hobbit, opening at NEYT on Friday, May 30.
Assisted by Rebecca Waxman, Ward brings the well-loved Hobbit to life as the "unlikeliest of heroes, Bilbo Baggins, leaves the comfort of his hobbit hole to join the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves on a perilous quest to reclaim their treasure from the fearsome dragon Smaug," a NEYT release explains. "Along the way, they'll meet trolls, goblins, elves, and a host of fantastical characters brought vividly to life on stage."
Today's rehearsal is all about costume try-ons, Ward explains. Raffi Pittman, 10, approaches to share a concern around costume changes in the show. Kids are worried they won't have enough time, he relays.
"So we'll practice putting them on and then taking them off," Ward reassures. "That's going to take a long time. [...] Getting into costume is going to take a while."
Hardly shy, other company members emerge with questions, answers, opinions, as Ward dials the energy back: "That's why we practice."
Her calm is impressive; her focus, clear.
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With two weeks left until opening, there's a lot to do for this major undertaking which, according to the release, "blends traditional storytelling with dynamic visual artistry."
Its original music was composed by Riley Goodemote, who wrote tunes, Ward explains, "for the story's many songs which are in both the book and in the play version," and he recorded a background track to which the players will sing.
"This production has been in the works for over a year," says Ward. NEYT Artistic Director Ben Stockman suggested she direct it. "And first thing I thought of was puppets - creatures and things."
Knowing NEYT's scenic director, David Regan, "is a fantastic puppet maker," she proposed that puppets be part of the experience. Regan was game, and he taught a puppet-making workshop with the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro in January and February to design and construct the trolls, goblins, and other puppets.
"The trolls - kind of inspired by Bread and Puppet - are maybe 8 feet tall," Ward says.
"Seven feet," Raffi humbly corrects.
"They're 7 feet tall. Thank you, Raffi," Ward continues. "And then there're goblins that were sculpted out of clay and then papier-mâchéed by students."
Two special works top it off: a stage-sized puppet of Smaug, an intricately constructed creature that brings Tolkien's fearsome fire-breather to life, and a dragon with head, tail, and an expanding middle to span the stage which, for this production, will be a three-quarter thrust; that is, with the audience on three sides of the playing area.
Crankies - images on scrolls to enhance the storytelling - have been created for the production by Jana Zeller, to be operated by the backstage running crew.
Jerry Stockman, NEYT founding member and associate technical director, ran a theater effects class to show tech students and actors alike how to make masks light up, among other tricks. Sandy Klein is creating 31 costumes with the help of young designers. And Regan designed the set.
Among the cast of 24, six actors are exclusively puppeteers. Another six junior company members are helping Klein with costumes.
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"They've been through the whole process. They've been building and designing and will be helping with quick changes in the show," Ward explains, adding that she hopes to have a young running crew of 10 "because there're a lot of scenic elements and lighting and sound changes" to execute.
She read a few adaptations of The Hobbit but landed on Patricia Gray's, written in 1968 and approved by Tolkien himself. "It's the closest to the book," says Ward, who's been a fan of the Tolkien trilogy since her youth.
A Brattleboro native, she recalls having been in a Village Theatre production of the classic directed by Carol Macy and Wayne Griffis at the Hooker-Dunham in 2000, just a year after NEYT opened its doors to its first class of young theater wannabes. Goodemote played Bilbo in that production.
"I really love working with this age group - 9- to 13-year-olds," says Ward. That's clear in her interactions. "It's a really fun age."
Having done many original shows and shorter sketches with this cohort, she says, "I was excited about trying a bigger challenge for them."
The show will run under two hours, she expects, with an intermission. "The kids have really, really been rising to the challenge. It's required a lot of work from them at home too."
"One thing that I love about this area - NEYT and this area as a whole - is how serious everyone takes youth theater," she says. "Everyone has been treating this like a Broadway-caliber production with the amount of passion and creativity that's been going into making all the elements."
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I had a chance to talk with a few company members as they waited for the afternoon's work to begin.
The role of Bilbo Baggins is shared by three young players each, in turn, taking a few scenes in the story.
Pittman, Bilbo #1, was the first to speak up: a student at Marlboro Elementary whose first show was only last year, they say, "it's just really fun to act."
When asked what it feels like to try to be somebody else, they respond: "Well, my Bilbo at least, is kind of nervous, so I kind of try to connect with him more. He's a lot more proper than I am. And he's definitely older."
Of the experience working - and playing - at NEYT, Pittman adds: "I can just make friends and hang out with kids my age."
Eloise Gradinger, a student at the Grammar School, is the second Bilbo.
"It's just really fun because once you acknowledge your talents and then come to be with people who all kind of do the same thing, it's fun to be in the community," she says.
"This is my first big part," she adds. "I love the stories. I love the movies. I love the book especially. So it was really exciting for me when I got Bilbo. And I just love the other Bilbos I'm working with. I love working with Huxley - he's Gollum - and all of the scenes and the goblins and stuff like that. It's really fun."
It can be challenging, for sure.
"You have to give your time and energy," Eloise says. "This takes three days a week, and I almost had to miss my spring concert for tech week. You need to be committed to it. And you have to have that energy and that spirit to do that part."
Clio Lewitt, also at the Grammar School, is the third Bilbo. They love "expressing myself in different ways and having such a big community with me."
Among the challenges, they say, are "mostly like scheduling and times, but I still enjoy it so much. It's literally like my dream role because it's probably my favorite book." Being part of an ensemble like this, they say, "I really learn how to be more social and how to make more friends."
Branson Evans plays Dori. A student at Academy School, he says what he loves about theater is "entertaining people." Probably the most challenging part of the work is "memorizing all your lines and, like, when to say them." Cues.
"I'm Huxley," says a gregarious player who plunked down in front of me. Pleased to meet them, I asked what role they play.
"I play Gollum. I'm described as a slimy creature," Huxley says. Last name? "Dove, like the chocolate or the soap - or just the bird."
A student at Guilford Elementary, Huxley offers that being part of The Hobbit company "makes me feel connected to something that I never could have found without theater. It opens a new me. I am finding a different part of myself that I could never have found without this amazing theater."
He, too, says the big challenge is learning lines. "Yeah, you have to put in the work. I'm like a main character in the play," and as such he talks of being in a leadership role. "I feel like I have a lot of responsibility in this play."
And he's game to meet the demand.
Being there with the company; seeing Ward working with kids on character and ensemble building, while others try on costumes; feeling the energy of the room and the ensemble spirit, one's reminded of what an effective teaching and learning vehicle theater can be.
When a child can safely leave a comfort zone and stretch to create a performance with others, magic happens. So does learning.
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For audiences of all ages - families, theater lovers, and Tolkien fans alike, NEYT's The Hobbit runs Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1 and Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8. Tickets are available at neyt.org. All performances take place accessibly at the New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St., Brattleboro.
Annie Landenberger is an arts writer and columnist for The Commons. Founding director of the Rock River Players, she'd, coached, directed, and mentored young people onstage, backstage, and offstage with the Leland and Gray Players, which she founded in 1996 and led - while teaching English at the middle/high school in Townshend - for 21 years.
This Arts column by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.