Fifth Graders Produce And Perform Original Play At Eastchester Public Library​

From Eastchester Public Library: On two Monday nights, May 8th and May 15th, a group of 23 children performed The Sea Son’s Quest, an original play inspired by Rick Riordan’s bestseller of children’s fantasy, The Lightning Thief. Two fifth graders spearheaded this production: Caterina Stoica, who wrote the script, and Emily Forzaglia, who directed the play and conceived the sets.

This is the second year that the Eastchester Public Library (EPL) has offered this unique program for elementary school children. Interested children met in November, to determine which book would be turned into a play and who would write and direct it. The script was developed over a period of about three months, and practices began in early February.

In the lead role of Percy Jackson was fifth-grader Ryan Reilly, and his fellow demigods Annabeth and Grover were played by third-grader Tess Peiper and fifth-grader Chayce Hewitt, respectively. The play was narrated by Poseidon, god of the sea, played by fifth-grader Michael Masiello.

The cast also included JoAnna Campbell, Naomi Dube, Summer Feng, Chloe Hewitt, Andrea Klein, Lux Koch, Paul Mangione, Matthew McDonough, Patrick Murray, Ava Renzo, Emma and Mina Rincones-Parra (who also lent their talents to costume design), Isabelle Sabelja, Chihoko and Koichiro Saito, James Song, and Michael Stoica.

The program is facilitated by Jonathan Heifetz, a Children’s Librarian. EPL’s play program grew out of our participation in the Westchester Library System Battle of the Books. After the 2015 Battle, at a book group we held at the library, Caterina Stoica suggested that we should put on a play based on Suzanne Collins’ Gregor the Overlander, one of the 2015 Battle selections. The enthusiasm was so strong, Caterina’s idea became a reality when Into the Underland was performed in June of 2016.

Our play program has grown by leaps and bounds over a period of about a year, from something that was mostly for the Battle of the Books participants in the “offseason,” to a program that has become bigger for us than Battle of the Books and has attracted new children to the library!

We believe this program to be unique for one that targets elementary school-aged children, in that it is “child-led” to the greatest extent possible. Adults are in the room, primarily, to contain the enthusiasm! Most major decisions are made, and the practices are run, by the creator and the director.

Another unique aspect of this program is its emphasis on creativity. While the children are coached to project their voices and face the audience, we are also aware that this is not a Broadway-style production and that it will not be perfect. Most of these children have never acted outside of this program; we believe that the experience of getting on stage builds confidence and public speaking skills. The ultimate goal is to encourage all participants to be creative, to come up with lots of wild ideas for how they want a book they love to appear on the stage, and most of all to have fun!

Photo courtesy of Eastchester Public Library