Playing three parts in one show can get confusing, something 9-year-old Grace Royal of Berwick knows well. At the end of Act 2 of "Treasure Island," the young actor plays a pirate who captures Jim Hawkins and then moments later plays the part of the very same Jim who she just had captured.
"I am the pirate O'Brien and O'Brien captures Jim in the second act," said Grace Royal, 9, of Berwick. "Then I get to be Jim after I capture Jim in the act before."
Grace is one of 10 young campers who play a total of 21 different roles in the Hackmatack camp production of "Treasure Island," which will be shown 10 am Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, and is open to the public.
Chris Gempp of Dover, the camp's director, chose to do the show with each camper having about three parts, largely because the lead part of Jim is on stage the entire show and has a slew of lines. He also thought it was just a fun way to get kids learning different roles.
"Doing a full show with 10 kids is very interesting," said Gempp, "but it's been a blast. The excitement of the kids is just fantastic, they are so thirsty for the experience."
Gempp notes that the campers sharing characters have found ways to make sure the audience knows who they are. For instance, the teenaged Jim Hawkins always puts his hands on his hips, pirate ring-leader Long John Silver hobbles on one leg and the very savvy Captain Smollett speaks in a nasal voice.
All three campers cast as Jim agree that learning lines is the biggest challenge of the show.
"The hardest is memorizing my lines," said Corey Russell Gusman, 8-year-old resident of St. Thomas BVI, who spends summers with his grandmother in Sanford.
"You just have to get it all down in your head and that's hard," agreed Sarah McTague, 11, of Epping.
McTague, like the others, is most fond of her role as Jim.
"I think it's an interesting part because he's a kid and I can relate to that and I've never been a pirate and Captain Smollett is a sailor and I've never had any experience with that."
But apparently they are all rising to the occasion as they did their first run-through off script and quite pleased their director.
"We did the first full run of Act 1 off book and they only called for line three times, which doesn't happen even with professional actors," said Gempp.
The young actors get 60 hours of camp time over four weeks, with camp time divided between rehearsals and skill development games.
The show involves song, dance, and a good bit of acting. Sometimes the mixture is a satisfying challenge.
"Jim's friends are always fighting so there has to be acting with the dancing to show that he he's frustrated with them," Sarah said.
Royal loves being the third and final Jim. After all, she gets to say the very last line in the whole play. And what is that?
"'Maybe it will be my next treasure island,'" she narrated, "or something like that."
"Treasure Island" will be performed by Hackmatack campers at 10 am Friday and Saturday July 21 and 22 at Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students. For more information, call
207-698-1807 or go to
www.hackmatack.org.
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