Over the course of the past few weeks, the theater company has been performing “Little Red Riding Hood” for elementary students during third period. Paul Orsett, director of Wakefield Theatre Company, reached out to local elementary schools and helped to plan their field trips to the school to see the production.  The rest of the show, including set design, rehearsal, and costumes, was orchestrated by students in the Honors Theatre class that runs during third period.

“[I’m] the Wolf. When I’m not performing I’m building all of the light cues and running the light board for the show,” senior Jared Scott said. “The hard part was the tech because the grandma has to get eaten so there was a lot of extra stuff for the show, but the kids are really adorable.”

There were two students who played the wolf, seniors Jared Scott and Connor Chaney, but offstage they were involved in completely opposite aspects of the show.

“[I’m] also the Wolf. I’m a part of the sets crew so that involves doing all of the set changes during the show. I made a lot of the set pieces because not a lot of people are licensed to use some of the tools,” Chaney said. “In a role like ours where we’re the antagonists, we get a lot of mixed reactions from the kids.”

Little Red Riding Hood’s grandma was played by junior Cammie Ransome, who also helped with building and decorating the sets for the show.

“I am the Grandma. I’m also on the sets crew and as a class we work to put on all aspects of the production which includes costumes, sets, props, lights, and sound but developing a character is always hard and takes a while.,” Ransome said.

The students worked very hard to produce the best show possible by creating the sets and costumes and rehearsing extensively. The elementary students were excited to greet the cast after the production but showed mixed reactions to Scott and Chaney, who both played the Wolf.

“In a role like ours where we’re the antagonists we get a lot of mixed reactions from the kids,” Chaney said regarding his and Scott’s role as the Wolf.

The star of the show, Little Red Riding Hood, was played by junior Hannah Raftery.  She was involved with the sets crew as well and assisted in moving the pieces of the set on and off of the stage.

“I’m actually Little Red Riding Hood. I have to memorize all of my lines and perform the show, but when I’m not performing I’m moving the sets on and off the stage,” Raftery said.  “The kids are so cute. When we’re done with the show they always come up to us. They really loved it.”