By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — The Big Bad Wolf had allergies in Livingstone College students’ version of the “Three Little Pigs.”
While he easily blew down the first two houses, made of Reese’s peanut butter cups and strawberries, his huffing and puffing was no contest for the third house, which was built with flowers that only made him sneeze.
Theater students revamped five classic fairy tales and acted them out for children during story time Tuesday at the Rowan Public Library.
“We wanted to rewrite the stories to make them more modern, more fun,” said senior La Presha Nicole Clark. “It’s creative and fun for both parents and children.
“And theater helps spark their imaginations.”
The students, who are all part of the Julia B. Duncan players, added plenty of twists to the traditional stories, switching out the porridge Goldilocks samples at the home of the three “blue bears” into menu items such as a Big Mac and Happy Meals from McDonald’s.
Goldilocks also played with electronic devices such as a Nintendo DS and iPod and kept warm underneath a Snuggie rather than a typical blanket.
“We wanted to connect with the children,” said junior Sierra Watkins.
Dr. Michael Connor, a theater professor at Livingstone, said he encourages his students to share their talent with the community.
“It gives them a sense of self worth and a sense of purpose that their education isn’t meaningless,” he said.
This year is the first time the players have been involved in performances for children, Connor said.
“We need to work on those minds, those imaginations, that creativity that they have,” he said.
Robert Jones, a children’s librarian, said the library appreciates how the students turn story time into an interactive event.
“It’s wonderful for these students to come and share their talents with us,” he said. “The library always wants to get the community involved.”
Jones said fairy tales are great way to entertain children and adults alike.
“They are timeless and ageless and every child no matter the age should know them,” he said. “They are stories that they’ll read growing up, they’ll see acted out in various different ways throughout their life and they will pass along to their children.
“That’s the beauty of fairy tales, everybody loves them.”
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
Twitter: twitter.com/posteducation
Facebook: facebook.com/Sarah.SalisburyPost