Framingham Middle Schools Theatre Peformances Friday Night

All three Framingham public middle schools will participate in the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild Drama Festival this weekend for middle schools.

And the public is invited to a preview performance of all three productions on Friday night, May 1 at 6:30 at Fuller Middle. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online. Admission $12.

This is the second year, the Framingham Public School theatre department has previewed all three shows together in a night of one acts to celebrate unity.

The order of the Friday night performances are:

• Walsh Middle with Esperanza Rising
• Cameron Middle with Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon
• Fuller Middle with Us and Them

***

Esperanza Rising is based on the novel by Pam Muñoz Ryan, said Walsh Middle School director Sheron Doucette.

The novel is read by our sixth graders as part of their Survivor Unit. It is the story of a wealthy girl, 13, in Mexico in 1924. After the death if her father she is forced to leave Mexico without much more than the clothing on her back to become a migrant worker in California. This happens as the migrant workers were attempting to unionize. Esperanza overcomes numerous obstacles on her journey. The play is written in both English and Spanish.

“We’ve had help from our two-way and world language departments,” with the production said Doucette.

Walsh will participate in the state’s drama festival at Bromfield Middle School on Saturday, May 2 at 11 a.m. The public is invited to attend.There is an admission fee at each school site on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Walsh Middle Theatre

***

Cameron’s entry is Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, a one-act play by Don Zolidis.

The play is a comedy which revolves around a troupe of actors who have decided to perform all 209 Grimm Brothers stories in 40 minutes under the guidance of two narrators, explained director Diana Blue.

Most audiences will be familiar with characters such as Cinderella, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel, although there are a few who are lesser known.

This show is an exploration for the cast in the world of fast paced comedic energy, physicality and timinh, said Blue.

Cameron will travel to Franklin on Saturday for a performance at Horace Mann Middle School as part of the festival. They will perform at 10 a.m. The public is invited.

***

The Fuller Drama Company’s Spring Festival production is Us and Them, which explores the dynamic of two groups of people and how suspicion, curiosity and anxiety can lead to intolerance, narrow-mindedness and violence, explained director Teri Shea.

The playwrights intent is to show how education and tolerance can lead us to a more common understanding of our humanity, she said.

This play was chosen to connect what students are studying in their classes: civil rights and social injustice, said Shea.

The students in the cast will learn how to use theater to ask questions that leave an audience examining their own beliefs, Shea added.

Fuller will travel to Westford on Saturday, May 2 to Blanchard Middle School as part of the state’s drama festival. They will perform at 1 p.m. The public is invited.