STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The youngsters’ eyes widened in amazement as a bat began circling above their heads in the Hemingway Elementary School gymnasium.
This wasn’t just any bat. This was a megabat made of blue fleece. A magical bat that could bring a coming-of-age tale to life right before their eyes.
St. Thomas Playhouse has been bringing the story of “Stellaluna” to life for hundreds of kindergarteners through fifth-graders throughout the Wood River Valley this week as part of its annual Children’s Theater Tour.
And it will present a free performance for the public at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Sun Valley Road in Ketchum.
The puppet performance is based on a 1993 children’s book about a female bat. The book was named one of the National Education Association’s Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children in 2007.
In the hands of Sara Gorby, Melodie Taylor-Mauldin, Brett Moellenberg, Kagen Albright and Grant Carey, the rod and hand puppet play is a lovely blend of storytelling and song.
It’s a story about friendship. And it’s a story about differences.
Stellaluna, the children learned, is a fruit bat. She’s a “vegetarian” with a penchant for mangoes. She’s nocturnal and she hangs upside down. Oh, and she has bat—not bad—manners.
But Stellaluna’s world is turned upside down when an owl attacks her clan, knocking Stellaluna out of her mama’s embrace.
She ends up in a sparrow’s nest filled with three baby birds named Pip, Flitter and Flap. And she’s told she can live with them—if she renounces her fruit bat ways and stops flying at night and hanging upside down.
Worst of all, she must learn to eat things that crawl.
Shudder—BUGS!
Stellaluna attempts to adapt, trying to learn to fly. But at the same time she encourages her new sparrow friends to try sipping nectar from fruit and hanging by their thumbs.
“It’s just another way of looking at things,” she tells them. “You get a whole new view of the world.”
The performance received a standing ovation from many of the students in the audience.
And they were eager to share their observations.
It’s about being yourself,” said one youngster. “After all, Stellaluna was a bat, not a bird.”
“It’s teaches us to love our differences,” added another.
Taylor-Mauldin flashed a big smile following the end of the play.
“Look at how many kids we got to reach with these messages,” she said. “It’s incredible to see their response.”
“The kids got a lesson they can hopefully take with them the rest of their lives,” added Albright. “And they got exposed to the arts.”