Eisley Low is set to star in her first leading role and is already bitten by the acting bug.
Fourth and fifth graders will perform a play featuring a grandmother’s mixed-up memory of classic fairytales during the drama club’s first show since 2019. “Twice Upon a Time” opens March 6 and 8 with 31 students.
Low, a fifth grader who will play the grandmother, said this is her first show and won’t be her last.
“I kind of want to do more acting stuff in the future, because I’ve been having a lot of fun with this,” Low said.
The elementary school hasn’t had its drama club since before the pandemic, and second grade teacher Meadow Meier was inspired to bring it back. Meadow is in her second year of teaching in Eudora, but she’s also a district alumna.
She participated in every play and musical she possibly could in high school, but there wasn’t an elementary drama club during her time.
Bringing this option to the fourth and fifth graders will give younger kids an ability to get into theater earlier, something that otherwise is not offered much in Eudora, Meier said.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I think the kids would love it if we brought it back,’ so I kind of floated the idea around last year,” she said. “I think it’s a great way for them to express themselves, besides just choir or band.”
With help from instruction coach Emily Shrimplin, Meier was able to get the idea approved by the School Board.
The play has mini stories within it. Some of grandma’s versions of the stories are Cindy Rella going to the princess barbecue, the three little pigs and the big bad bear, Red Riding Pants trying to sell baked goods to the CEO of a baked goods company, and Snow White and the four dwarfs.
Low was encouraged by her parents to try something new so she signed up for the play. Originally she only wanted a small role, but with some encouragement from her mom, she ended up with over 145 lines.
“So then I got that part, and I was, like, really excited,” she said
While she’s a little nervous for opening night, she’s confident it will go well. Learning all the lines was challenging, but using index cards has helped her, she said.
She’s most excited for her family and friends to watch her performance, she said.
Fourth grader Jayvon Chrislip got involved with the play because his cousin Matt convinced him.
He’s looking forward to having the show in front of people, but he’s also nervous, he said.
The play isn’t really his thing. He’d rather be playing sports, he said. Baseball, football and basketball are more his thing, he said.
Chrislip is a stagehand and helps bring props to other cast members.
Fourth grader Zoie Durkin-Hutchcraft said she likes acting and thought the play sounded fun. She also likes it because she sees her friends. She’s playing one of the dwarfs.
“I wanted to see all my friends,” she said. “It’s just super fun in general.”
Meier is excited to share the play with the community since cast members have practiced three days a week to prepare.
The show will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday (March 8) in the middle school auditorium. The show lasts about an hour, and there will be no intermission.
Part of the show will also be performed for the other elementary schoolers.
The performance is $5 for adults and free for students in pre-k to 12th grade. They’ll also be accepting donations for future performances.
Students from our middle school press club contributed interviews and photos for this story: Addison Hellwig, Dax Von Holten and Fiona Raugewitz
