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(Posted 9:30 a.m., May 18)
OYP Act III
class delivers delightful 'Tale of Two Twins'
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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 Ruby
Dumas as Prince Ella reacts to being offered plum pudding as the Royal Chef,
played by Melinda Theriault looks on, during the OYP Act III production
of 'A Tale of Two Twins' on Wednesday night. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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As a father
of twin boys, I know firsthand that being twins has its fair share of ups
and downs. In the Orleans Young Players Act III production of "A Tale
of Two Twins", the two main characters take the trials and tribulations
of being twins to an entire new level.
The play opens
with four cousins deciding to play an imginary game where they each come
up with their own characters.
The story centres
around Queen Stella of Dagudlan and her twin sister Princess Ella. Stella
is tired of all the responsibilities of being Queen and simply wants to
be able to fly like a bird, while Ella desparately wants to wear the crown
which would have been her's if not for the fact that she was born one minute
after her sister.
Surrounding the
principal players are Geraldine, the Royal Maid; Angela, the Royal Dresser;
Harriet, the Royal Chef; Rogue, the Royal Jester; and Douglas the Household
Steward.. Last but not least there's Arthur the stable boy, who Ella convinces
to help undertake a dastardly plan to lock her sister in the palace dungeon
so that she can take over as Queen.
When the Queen
escapes with the help of Arthur who's actually a foreign prince, Ella is
found out when she is served her sister's favourite dessert -- plum pudding
-- which she is allergic too. In the end, Stella abdicates her crown and
gives it to Geraldine, the Royal Maid, who agrees to marry the prince. Harriet,
the Royal Chef, gets over her fear of making cheese cake and Angela , the
Royal Dresser, can make new clothes for the Royal couple.
At one point
during the play we learn that one of the cousins is worried that her parents
are going to get divorced. The imaginary story becomes a metaphor about
the fear of traumatic changes in one's life.
Underlying the
story is the message that "change doesn't mean the end, it just means
carrying on differently".
The play itself
was written by Act III instructor and the play's director Alan Jeans, who
based the story on James Reaney 's "Listen to the Wind".
But as good as
the storyline was, it was the perfoirmances of the cast members that brought
it to life. Meaghen Schroeder and Ruby Dumas were excellent as Stella and
Ella as was Allana Eberlee, who played the Rogue the Royal Jester.
I also enjoyed
Judy Torburg, as the Royal Dresser, and Allie Davidson, who played Geraldine,
the Royal Maid and new Queen.
Rounding out
the wonderful cast were Brad Hart, who played Douglas the Household Steward;
Karl Buehrle who played Arthur; Melinda Theriault who played Harriet, the
Royal Chef; and Lauren Massie, Marc-Alexandre Hudson, Emma Clarkin and Alison
Snell who played the four cousins.
(This story
was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.)
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