Who cracked Humpty Dumpty’s shell? 

Fourth and fifth graders will try to find that out during their productions of “Hard Boiled: A Nursery Crime” Thursday and Saturday at the Performing Arts Center.

Co-director Meadow Meier said over 40 kids are participating in the production, which follows the comedic investigation of lead Detective Bacon, played by Penny Peavey.

Each scene will feature a new nursery rhyme and new puns, with different detectives interrogating characters from stories like “I’m a Little Teapot,” “Little Bo-Peep,” “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and “Jack and Jill.”

Hannah Perez plays the Little Teapot, and she said her character has anger management issues so she has to steam up. Perez said one of her favorite parts of the rehearsal process has been meeting new people.

“It’s not about acting. It’s about, like, having fun,” Perez said. “It’s about not just hanging out with your friends. It’s about hanging out with other people that you haven’t met before.”

She said she really enjoys how “everybody has their own part and how, like, everybody is getting along.”

Zoie Durkin-Hutchcraft plays Detective Chai, who is in charge of interrogating the Little Teapot and her associates. 

“I like rehearsals and stuff ’cause they’re really fun, like, learning our scenes and stuff, and practicing with our friends,” Durkin-Hutchcraft said.

Fourth grader Alaya Corbin plays both a mouse and a pig. 

“It’s, like, fun meeting new people, becoming friends with them,” Corbin said. 

The key to a successful production is everyone getting along, and Meier said participating in the play helps students’ cooperation skills. She said they have to learn to work with others and share the spotlight.

“They’re all able to show me that they can work together and work through a scene together and work through problems together,” Meier said. 

The play has helped students make new friends, and it has also given them the opportunity to try something new. Many of the fifth graders performed in last year’s play, but most fourth graders are new to theater. 

Evelyn Maine, who plays Detective Tabby, said participating in the play is about “seeing if you like the theater.” 

Others, like Jackson Johnson who plays Detective Primate, are pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.

“I’m facing my fears of stage fright,” Johnson said. “It’s about facing your fears.”

Lane Carnagie said the most challenging part for her has been memorizing her lines. She plays a monkey and Jill. 

“I think it’s really fun, because it kind of challenges you sometimes to see how fast you can memorize,” she said.

She said she memorized her lines in a little less than a month. Even before rehearsals, students had to memorize a passage of text for auditions. Co-director Emily Shrimplin said memorization wasn’t required, but they wanted students to have some practice before the real play.

“They do their best reading,” Shrimpin said. “They get to pick their top three. They tell us what they’re auditioning for. We try to get them the part they asked for.”

Every student who auditioned got into the play. Shrimplin said up to 65 people could perform in this play, so a lot of students have multiple parts. Emery Peine, for example, will be both the saucer and one of the three blind mice.

“One of my parts, one of the three blind mice, I get, like, chased, because we’re blind, and then we can’t really get out of the door,” Peine said, referencing her favorite moment.

The play has horses, cows, sheep, pigs, cats, dogs, monkeys and mice, and Meier said costumes include animal ears, tails and noses. Detectives will have detective pipes.

Some students, like Clara Whitis, have roles out of the spotlight. She works backstage making sure the props are in the right place. She said she likes helping people and has a lot of fun. 

“I didn’t want to put on a costume and stuff. I don’t really wear dresses,” Whitis said. “I like watching the people do their stuff. Like, they get their own thing to do, and that sounds fun. But still, I like my part.”

While the elementary school Drama Club has done plays in the past, it stopped during COVID. Meier revived the club last year, and 31 students performed “Twice Upon a Time.”

“The main reason why I wanted to bring it back was because it really helps the kids with their confidence,” Meier said. 

She also said this experience builds students’ confidence in speaking and reading, since they have to read the script in front of each other. 

“Fluency is a really big part of reading,” Meier said. “One of the five big pillars of reading is fluency. And so when they are, you know, saying their lines and speaking to an audience, like, that’s all fluently reading and memorizing words and speaking.”

This is also the first year since COVID that the performance is in the PAC. Meier said she’s excited for the students to perform in a new space for a hopefully larger audience. 

The play is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (April 23) and Saturday (April 25) in the PAC. Tickets for adults are $5, and tickets for students are free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online. The show will be roughly an hour.

Meier said the funds from tickets goes toward props and future sets. 

Reach Bella Waters at [email protected].