Global Holidays
By Judy Kiehart
When Greg West approached me about writing a holiday story, he envisioned something global and educational that would appeal to the whole family. The idea for Global Holidays was inspired by the incredible amount of holiday trivia, folk lore, stories, traditions and customs available on the internet.
Nine children’s stories were adapted into short plays and woven into the main story line which opened with an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Fir Tree.”
The Davis family, with the help of two magpies, take Michael and the audience on a global adventure to learn how many winter holidays are celebrated around the world. With Christmas as the main focus, children’s stories -- mixed with folklore, holiday trivia, customs, traditions, song and dance -- brought about 90 characters, representing dozens of cultures and countries, to the stage.
The 18 member cast included seven children, the youngest, the five year old, recited a seven verse poem written by John Skinner, a local poet.
While writing this program, Greg told me not to worry about how many characters there would be, the staging, or the costumes, so, I didn’t! And, thanks to Greg’s artistic talents, Carolyn’s costume creations and the very talented Stage Left cast and crew, the written words were brought to life on the Salida stage this holiday season.
Judy Kiehart
