An Evening with Dr Seuss

Combine a small school full of creative young brains with a talented writer and you’ve got an amazing Seussical Production. This year Mapua School’s production was directed by Leanne Hough and was based on the one and only Dr Seuss and his stories. The show was an amazing and strange insight into the world of Dr Seuss.

Half the time I was laughing and the other half marvelling at how a bunch of schoolkids, a couple of teachers, a few books (Sneetches, The Lorax, Oh the places you'll go, What was I afraid of, One fish, Two fish and Dr Seuss Alphabet) and a lot of hard work could produce such a startling play. It was so brilliant it weaselled it's way onto the front page of the Motueka/Ruby Bay News with the title " To think I saw it at Mapua School!" Which is exactly how I felt about it myself.

The main characters were The Cat in the Hat (Marley), The Mother (Alice), The Children (Sarah and Ellie) and Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Fabian and Rosie). Of course you can't have a production without main characters.

“Screech!” Tom's ear splitting scream echoed around the room ending the dance of the green pants. Frightful music started up again and the pants danced in time to the beat. The green pants were from the “What was I Afraid Of?” story and was directed by Mrs. Hosie. The stars in the pants were Tom S, Lorna S, George R, Nic L, Rueben K, Shaen G and Josh G-M.

The next scene, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was based on the book by the same name. This astounding performance was brought to you by Room 9. Splashed with many droplets of comedy this show created lots of laughs.

“I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees, which you seem to chopping just as fast as you please.” The scene of the Lorax was the most decorative because the many different props brought the stage to life. They went to a lot of trouble to create a silver-chopping machine controlled by Dan Sutherland. The choir provided the sound track for the chopping and, combined with Dan’s acting, was very effective The act had many different songs and dances to add to the entertainment.

Big A, little a. What begins with A? Aunt Annie's alligator a a a. So began Dr Seuss's ABC, played by the students of Room 2 and 1. The Ohh's and Ahh's rang out from the audience.

The Sneetches, written by Dr Seuss, another of his many wonderful books. Room 4 was given the task of creating a skit out this book. Ben (one of the Sneetches) stole the stage with his amazing acting.

"The money or the bag? "
"The money!"
"No, the bag!" the voices rang out loud and clear before being silenced by a wave from Selwyn TooGood (Henry). Oh the places you'll go was the last scene for the production. The skit was all about going through your life, meeting different challenges, trying new things and always coming out on top.