Let's Take This Show On The Road

Annelie is based on a Dutch children’s fable by Imme Dros. Wistful and poetic, the play explores the confusion of childhood and the messiness of real life, along with love and loss, fear and courage.

In September, Annelie will be performed for more than 20 elementary and middle schools across rural Oregon—from Enterprise in the Wallowas to Vernonia in the northwest “knob”—thanks to funding from the Jeannette Drew Foundation.

“It’s rare for young kids in rural schools to have the opportunity to see stage plays,” said Annelie director John Schmor, a UO theater arts professor. “There just aren’t many theaters like there are in larger cities.”

Schmor also cowrote the original music for the play with UO junior Jameson Taylor. Taylor was also musical director and choreographer.

Annelie was adapted for the stage by Jennifer Schlueter, UO assistant professor of theater. This was the first-ever American stage adaptation of the Dutch fable. For the rural tour, the script has been reworked into a 45-minute version.

In the imaginative tale, Annelie is staying with her grandmother because of problems her parents are having, though these remain unknown. She waits for her parents to return and copes with her family uncertainties by journeying into the depths of night, where she keeps company with characters such as the Moon and Mouseking. Along the way she meets tap-dancing mice, a greedy Frockwoman and a loveable hedgehog.

“Annelie is sifting through a very complex change in her life within this very beautiful and imaginative world she’s created,” said Schlueter.

It’s a story that many children—and adults—can relate to, said Schmor. “You never lose those early years,” he said.

—AC