Class ACT moves online and into Neverland | Arts And Community | goskagit.com – goskagit.com

Over the past few weeks, young children across Anacortes have been turning into fairies and pirates, taking to the high seas and navigating around the far-distant Neverland.

A total of 89 children between kindergarten and fifth grade are taking part in Adventures in Neverland, a Class ACT program.

The program, part of Anacortes Community Theater, had to take on a different format this year as part of staying safe during the pandemic. What started seven years ago at one of the elementary schools this year went virtual and included students from all three elementary schools participating together.

Weve had kids who have been in this program for years, Class ACT Coordinator Willow McLaughlin said. The younger ones are so excited to get to third grade, because in third grade you get lines. We had to find a way to do it this year.

Adventures in Neverland, based on the Peter Pan stories and written by McLaughlin, is comprised of four short stories, each featuring nine or 10 students from third to fifth grade.

Those in kindergarten to second grade learned songs and motions via video. Their parents are recording them individually, and then McLaughlin edits the videos together to make a chorus.

The older students each met, practiced and played games in breakout rooms on Zoom. Their teachers recorded their stories that way, with students turning their cameras on and off when they were exiting and entering the stage. Anyone who was supposed to be at the front of the stage would lean close to the camera and so on.

I was concerned that the students wouldnt be as motivated without an audience in front of them, teacher Rebecca Pursley said. It actually suited some of them; they felt more comfortable when they werent up on a stage.

To cast the shows, all 39 older students gathered in small groups, and teachers challenged them to some theater games.

In A Personal Fairy, directed by teacher Abigail Hanson, young Michael Darling is out to find his own, special fairy. During his quest, he meets several fairies and other characters.

The Great Race, led by Pursley, is similar to the story of the tortoise and the hare. Peter Pan, so confident about his abilities, challenges sea creatures to a race and things dont go as well for him as he thought they would.

Teacher Mike Jenkins took on Staying Lost, a story in which the Lost Boys find a treasure map and set off to find that treasure.

Wendy and the Pirate, was led by McLaughlin. It follows Wendy Darling as she takes on Captain Hook because she wants to lead the pirates.

The young actors really took to the parts they were given, Hanson said.

We have at least three different accents coming from our fairies, she said.

The pirates, too, took on physical comedy in new ways as they performed in front of a computer, McLaughlin said.

The kids miss this sort of creative interaction and flourished with the chance act again, Hanson said. They arent the only ones who have missed interacting and performing, she said. She jumped at the chance to lead the classes again, even though things look different this year.

She has been a teacher with the program for a few years now, and it is one of the reasons she switched her major to theater education in college, she said.

I love to see their joy as they discover theater, she said.

Even though things were online, the actual classes didnt feel much different, Hanson said. The young actors showed up with enthusiasm and worked hard.

Pursley is a retired classroom teacher and she said doing Class ACT brings out different things than she saw in the classroom, such as a new expressiveness in the kids.

It also helps students learn what it means to be a team, Pursley said.

You have to work together to make everyone look good, she said.

Jenkins said he misses theater, too. Doing virtual theater isnt the same as being on stage, but being with kids, acting and directing are all things he loves.

If this is what we have, this is what Ill take and make the best with it, he said.

Everyone wishes the performances were in person, but there are definite advantages to doing things online, McLaughin said.

Parents have often said they cant see their kids well during productions or that they have a hard time hearing. In a virtual show, everyones faces can be clearly seen and everyone can be heard, she said.

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Class ACT moves online and into Neverland | Arts And Community | goskagit.com - goskagit.com