This holiday season, the Peterborough Theatre Guild turns their stage into a barn yard for their annual holiday family play — a production of David Wood’s Babe, The Sheep-Pig.
A Theatre Guild tradition, the annual family show has always been aimed towards kids, but this year director Charles Shamess is doing something very different. While past family shows have had a cast of both adults and children, Charles has cast the entire production without a single actor over the age of 18.
“I did that deliberately because these kids will interact differently than if there are adults in the cast,” Charles explains. “They mentor each other if they are closer in age than if there was a forty- or fifty-year-old on stage, because they’d be looking up to that person as being their parent.”
With a cast of 35 youngsters — the youngest being four and the oldest being 18 — the majority of the cast are tweenagers. Based on the popular 1983 children’s book The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith (which was adapted into the Academy Award winning film Babe in 1995), Babe, The Sheep-Pig tells the story of a remarkable pig named Babe who is raised by Fly the Sheep Dog and taught to herd sheep. The drama is told from the viewpoint of anthropomorphized barnyard animals who each reveal their own distinctive personalities through a drama filled with lessons on kindness, loyalty, love, and beating all odds.
Babe, The Sheep-Pig is Charles’ directorial debut at the Theatre Guild, but he is no stranger at producing children’s theatre. As a parent volunteer, Charles directed 12 children’s productions at Queen Mary School when his own children attended the school.
“I think of myself not as a director but as a coach,” Charles says. “The kids are learning the craft and I’m coaching them, and that’s why I am on the side of the stage talking them through every show. I think of it like a sport, where you can talk to them while they on the ice. Many of them have never done this, and they are still learning how to be a character. We’ve done lots of fun games to get them into their animal bodies. We’ve been working on their characterizations.”
Charles and his team, including producer Jerry Allen and stage managers Jennifer Gruer and Beth Needham, have been in rehearsals with the kids three days a week since the end of August. They’ve brought the kids together and helped them put on a production of which they can be very proud, and one that goes beyond the usual expectations of a family show. They’ve watched the children develop their personal craft as performers.
Charles uses Katie Oickle, who stars as Fly the Sheep Dog, as an example. Prior to this production, Katie had never been on the stage before.
“It was wonderful to watch Katie grow from when she came into the audition to now, where she puts in so much character and emotion into her performance,” Charles says. “There was something in the depth of her character that told me she could feel things.”
Katie admitted to me that she is more of an athlete than an actress and did the show to try something different.
“I wanted to do something that no one of my family have ever done before,” Katie explains. “My family hasn’t done something like this, and my friends aren’t really into theatre. I’m kind of a loud person, and that’s good — it helped me. I think I’ll do it again.”
Watching the kids interact and work together is a refreshing experience to see. Without adult interference in the production, Charles creates a safe space for the children to learn the joys of theatre without the egos or politics that can often hinder the experience.
The result is some very honest and raw performances, allowing the kids to construct very distinctive roles for their characters and have their own moments to shine in the spotlight.
“The older kids have just soaked this stuff up, and they’ve bonded together,” Charles points out. “None of them knew each other before.”
Eighteen-year-old Natalee Barker, who plays Farmer Hoggart, is the oldest actor in the production by five years. The experienced actress’ last production was Twelve Angry Jurors in which she was the youngest member of the cast by seven years.
Natalie has had the unique experience of being wedged in the grey area between the child actors and the adult crew, which has allowed her an opportunity to work with the kids in a very different way.
“I’ve done children’s shows before with people from my age group,” Natalee says. “But acting with children is really interesting because I can help mentor them as well as be their friend. That helps Charles and Jennifer too. I’m one of them, but I’m someone who is older and who is more experienced in theatre. It’s been a really fun experience to work with them, but also help them if they need it. It’s been a really fun ride.”
Another experienced actress, 13-year-old Irelande Farrell, performs in the role of Ma the Sheep.
“She’s an accomplished actress and I wish I could have given her a bigger role,” Charles confesses. However, the tragic and difficult role is one only a girl with experience could play, and Irelande gives a potent performance. Having already done five plays, Babe, The Sheep-Pig is the first production Irelande has done in Peterborough.
“I love doing children’s shows,” Irelande tells me. “I think by doing children’s shows you can really inspire others. That’s what made me want to do acting. When I was little, I used to go and see plays and I just loved them. I never knew you could do it as a career, and I hope that I can inspire other kids to try acting.”
Of course, the show wouldn’t be complete without Babe the Sheep-Pig himself, played by Mark Nobel. Babe is his second role; Mark made his debut as part of Fagan’s gang in the Theatre Guild’s production of Oliver! last fall. A well-spoken and polite young man, Mark is on-stage almost the entire show and is a delight to watch.
“Mark is a natural,” Charles says of his star. “The moment he auditioned, we knew he was Babe.”
I ask Mark what he thought of being on stage in front of an audience. With much humbleness, he simply sums up the acting experience.
“It’s kind of cool,” Mark replies. “It feels kind of nice to be up on stage, and I don’t care if anybody thinks it’s silly — because it’s really fun.”
Babe, The Sheep-Pig goes beyond my expectations of a regular family show. It’s full of warmth and joy and subtle life lessons, but it also has pathos, tragedy and hard life lessons (such as poachers, predators, and the fact that people love to eat bacon). The young cast is charismatic and remarkably fresh, while maintaining a sense of professionalism which is great to see. The actors should be very proud of their individual contributions to this show. Each and every one of them is wonderful.
Youngsters will enjoy the drama and colourful costumes, and adults will appreciate the fact that the material is clever but doesn’t talk down to the audience. Babe, The Sheep-Pig is subtle, emotional and a pure delight. Charles Shamess and his young company have created a truly special production. This is what family theatre is supposed to be all about. Let’s hope Charles has created a brand new trend in family shows in Peterborough.
