Fairbanks Drama Association puts on comedy production to wrap up teen theater workshop

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - This summer, a series of three workshops at the Hap Ryder Riverfront Theatre has aimed to teach local students the art of drama.

The third of these workshops, for ages 12 to 18, is wrapping up this week with three performances for the Fairbanks community.

Actor Dawson Rogers plays one of the narrators in the play. “The pressure’s really racking on me. I can feel it, you know, and I’m excited at the same time,” he said.

The play is a comedic take on classic stories from the Brothers Grimm.

Assistant Director Delaney Wright explained, “It’ll be a few fairy tales that everybody knows well and a few nobody knows, all mashed up into one.”

The actors have spent weeks learning their lines and practicing their movements. “The job as a narrator is to convey the story to the audience, and so if you fumble your words or can’t convey that story the correct way, then the audience, it’s just going to fly right over their heads,” Rogers said.

Participants have also learned improvisation and teamwork through theater games. According to Wright, “Some of them have had acting experience. Some of them have had no acting experience, and we are here to teach them, but some of these kids, they get on stage and they just go for it.”

This year marks the return of the workshops after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. “It’s exciting because we get to see young talents who have just kind of been in the shadows all this time because they haven’t had time to get out,” Wright said.

“I didn’t know anybody before. These are all new people. I’ve made some pretty great friends, though, in just the course of a month,” said Rogers.

While making friends, the young actors explore their craft. Rogers explained, “The purpose of acting is to convey different parts of oneself, and to convey new perspectives and new emotions and new people and new views.”

Wright said, “It’s exciting to see these kids who are really learning how to be themselves on stage.”

The play opens on Friday, July 29 and runs through the following Sunday.

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