The Circle in the Square Theatre School will present ANANSI THE SPIDER, a play for children (Grades K-6), at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre (50th St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue), at 10:30 a.m., from Monday, November 28 through Friday, December 2.
Adapted by
Tony Phelan and Kira Snyder from a West African folktale featuring the funny and clever spider Anansi and performed by graduates of the School, ANANSI THE SPIDER tells the story of Anansi's quest to win back all of the world's stories, which have been stolen by the Sky God. To accomplish this, Anansi must bring to him the Tooth of a Leopard, the Stinger of a Hornet, and the Wings of a Fairy. Impossible tasks for anyone - except Anansi!
The cast includes Sofia Duran (Anansi), Seth McNeill (Sky God), Shannon Cabbell, Margen Soliman, and Taylor Walsh. There will be a Q&A with the cast following each performance.
The enchanting Anansi folktales are from the Gold Coast area of West Africa, and have been passed along for generations through the oral tradition. ANANSI THE SPIDER, which was last presented by the Circle in the Square Theatre School in 2009 to enthusiastic response from its young audiences, opens this year's 3-Plays for Grades K-6 series. It will be followed by the School's highly popular production of CINDERELLA (January 30 - February 3; February 6 - 10) and a new musical version of its acclaimed production of AESOP'S FABLES ("Circus-like thrills...Ingenious masks"-NY Times), which features a book by
Michael Milligan and music & lyrics by Joziah Longo, famed for his band "The Grand Slambovians." (March 5 - 9)
Circle in the Square Theatre School (CITSTS), established in 1963, is one of the country's premier schools of professional training for actors and singers, and is the only conservatory affiliated with a Broadway theatre.
Theodore Mann (a co-founder of Circle in the Square Theatre) is artistic director, and
Paul Libin is president. E. Colin O'Leary is executive director. Among the School's alumni are
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Kevin Bacon,
Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta),
Idina Menzel, Benicio Del Toro,
Felicity Huffman,
Molly Shannon, and many other luminaries of the stage and screen.
In addition to school and public performances of children's plays, CITSTS also conducts classes on playwriting for third graders (at P.S. 11), with their short plays performed by graduate actors on Circle's Broadway stage.
ANANSI THE SPIDER: Running time: 50 minutes. $5 for adults and children. Reservations required. Phone 212-307-0388, or visit
www.circlesquare.org.
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