Sheridan College Theater and Dance students create original works based on Sheridan tall-tales

 Sheridan College Theater and Dance students have performed and recorded a series of short, livestreamed performances for elementary school children inspired by local stories and myths. 

While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, theater instructor for Sheridan College, Lauren Graffin Estrada, talked about how they developed the original stories. 

According to Sheridan College, this new approach to theater gives students access to the arts while protecting the health and safety of our community.

Sheridan College Theater and Dance students created three original works using green screens and no small amount of research on local Sheridan myths. Each story has been created with a specific age group in mind and uploaded to the Sheridan College YouTube page. 

The Lonely Sea Monster of Lake De Smet is for children aged K-2nd grade.  Sheridan College Theater students reimagine the misunderstood monster of Lake De Smet. According to the description, children will join a wild adventure with Smitty the Sea Monster and his friend Sadie. Students wanted this story to be about endurance, strength and love. The Lonely Sea Monster of Lake De Smet can be found here.

Amara’s Adventure is for children aged 2nd -4th grades. The story joins Amara on an adventure as she travels across continents and time with her unique rug. Watch as she encounters greedy kings, sneaky thieves and a dragon with a terrible ticker. At the end of the show, this story asks our students to complete the story and to solve the mystery: how did Amara’s rug escape the dragon’s clutches and end up in the Kendrick Mansion? You can find Amara’s Adventure here. 

The Curious Case of the Missing Hula-Hoop Girl was developed for older kids 4th-6th grades. Children are taken to the circus as characters solve the Curious Case of Chloe, the missing Hula-hoop girl. Children will see a juggler, acrobats, strong-man and other circus performers. The Curious Case of the Missing Hula-Hoop Girl can be found here.

According to Estrada, the plays will be posted and viewable on YouTube for the foreseeable future.