Wednesday. December 19, 1990 - North Shore News - 27
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spotiight feature
Riding Hood
enters the
post-nuclear
age

HILDREN CAN easily

learn the lesson of

not trusting strangers
in the story of Little Red
Riding Hood, but just imag-
ine if someone rewrote the
fairy tale to reflect modern-
day issues, like, say. drug
addiction or environmental
concerns.

How would kids react, for in-
stance, to Cinderella it she were
meniailly disabled, or if Jack of Jack
and the Beanstalk were HIV-
positive?

According to Jamie Norris, Fend
Players’ artistic director, today’s
kids are receptive to these issues.

Norris, 28, is the creator of the
Kids Series, a seven-weekend
entertainment showcase for
youngsters aged five to 10.

“it’s sort of like Saturday Night
Live meets Sesame Street,’”” Norris
says of the series, which stars local
clown artist Gina Bastone.

His method is simple: matching
relevant issues to each fairy tale.

For example, health and nutri-
tion were explored in his version
of the ages-oald children’s classic,
Hansel and Gretel. Norris had the
wicked witch force-feeding the
protagonists with every conceiv-
able kind of junk food.

“We had a major eating
scene,” says Norris. ‘‘The witch
fed them cocoa krispies,
cheeseballs and chocolate, and
they proceeded to get sick.”

After the performance, nurses
from the Vancouver Health

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JAMIE
fairy tales with a modern twist.

Department were brought in to
discuss healthy eating habits with
the audience.

Norris, a former \West Van-
couver resident, rewrote the role
of Cindereitla for actor Boby
(Aranka) Lukacs, who has cerebral
palsy. Instead of the typical fantasy
in which the frilly Cindereila’s
future happiness depends upon
looking pretty and marrying a
Ken-like prince, kids got a look at
what it's like to be disabled.

“What we tried to get across is

The

‘north shore’ YOUR COMMUNITY

+ WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY

i SUNDAY

NEWSPAPER
SINCE 1969

NORRIS is the creator and director of the

NEWS photo Mike Wakelield

the idea of lonking past appear-
ances,”’ says Norris. ‘The prince
falls in love with her. not for her
looks, tut for who she is inside.”

Norris notes that in all of his
tales he’s been caretul not to
preach. And the kids, he says, feel
comfortable with the issues pres-
ented.

See Norris page 29

Kids Series,

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