Sachar’s Holes launches new Youth Theatre season

The Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s Youth Theatre has announced its production schedule for its upcoming 2009-10 season. The lineup includes diverse shows appropriate for audiences from preschoolers to teens, including Holes, based on the quirky novel-turned-move by author Louis Sachar, and classic fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk.

Season Opener, Oct. 2–18: Holes by Louis Sachar, published by Walden Family Playhouse

Accused of stealing a pair of shoes, Stanley is sentenced to Camp Greenlake, a juvenile detention center. Stanley doesn’t blame the judge for falsely convicting him;  instead, he blames the whole misadventure on his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.” So begins Stanley’s adventure that leads him to uncover an old mystery and to right his great-great-grandfather’s wrong.

Holiday show, Dec. 4–20: Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline’s Chrismas by Jennifer Kirkeby, published by Dramatic Publishing

Disaster strikes Madeline’s boarding school in Paris when everyone gets the flu—everyone except for Madeline, that is. The schoolgirls are sad because they won’t be able to go home to see their families for Christmas. Then, on Christmas Eve, a wonderful, unexpected miracle occurs. This play is filled with holiday fun and delightful music.

Winter show, Feb. 12–28: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Jody Davidson, published by Plays for Young Audiences

When the boy gives the mouse a cookie, the mouse wants some milk, and then a straw to drink it with. Tidying up afterwards, the mouse needs a napkin, then a mirror, then scissors so he can give himself a haircut. What a mess! The boy begins to feel like he’s on a roller coaster ride—and still going up. There’s no stopping this mouse!

Winter show, March 5–14:Antigone, translated by Theodore Howard Banks, published by New York Oxford University Press

Thebes’ civil war has ended, and Creon, the ascending king, proclaims that anyone who dares to bury the enemy will be publicly executed. Antigone battles Creon, her uncle, for the right in God’s name to bury her dead brother. A dramatic conclusion to a classic tale of honor and courage.

Spring show, May 1–16: Jack and the Beanstalk by Charlotte B. Chorpenning, published by The Children’s Theatre Press

Jack must save his small farm and provide for his mother, and the only way he sees to do it is to invest in some magic beans. Everyone around him laughs at his hope that the beans might help him, but Jack saves the day with a little belief in magic.