What’s the first rule when choreographing a sword battle between high-school freshmen?
“No improvising,” said Shelby Hostetler, English teacher and co-director for the Franklin Regional Thespian Club.
Hostetler is choreographing not one but multiple battles as the club prepares to stage a production of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” C.S. Lewis’ classic tale of the Pevensie children’s magical journey through the back of a family wardrobe and into the land of Narnia.
Co-director Richard Sunny said he wanted to make this year’s fall play a little more challenging for the 21-student cast.
“This gives us a chance to do some battles and let the kids show off some additional talents,” he said.
Hostetler said coordinating the sword fights starts with a conversation.
“We want to make sure everyone’s comfortable and knows all the steps in the fight,” she said. “All our weapons are made of foam, so there’s no real chance of injury. But there’s a great deal of planning involved. The big battle has about several different fights happening at once!”
Sunny said Hostetler is making maximum use of the high school auditorium for fight scenes.
“She’s using the stage, the orchestra pit, a lot of additional space,” he said.
Senior Belle Ralston, who will play the mythical fawn Mr. Tumnus, is used to moving around onstage — her performance background is in dancing — but in her first year as part of the Thespian Club, she’s had to get used to a new medium.
“I have to speak,” she said with a laugh. “I am used to ‘acting’ and expressing emotion when I’m not speaking, so acting through my lines has been a new challenge. I really love the process, learning from other cast members and from Mr. Sunny and Miss H.”
Freshman Kensington Carswell is taking on her first lead role in her first year with the high school Thespian Club, portraying Aslan, a lion who is the king of Narnia.
“In middle school, it was a much larger group,” Carswell said. “But when it’s smaller like this, you get to know people better and the show, I feel like, becomes more of a close-knit group of people and becomes a little more personal.”
Carswell’s biggest challenge? Acting with fake canine teeth in her mouth.
“I’m a lion, so I’m going to have canines attached to my teeth with wax,” she said. “I haven’t gotten to try it out yet, so we’ll see how tough it is to speak.”
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” will open at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 in the Franklin Regional Senior High School Auditorium. An additional 7:30 p.m. show will take place Nov. 1, with a 2 p.m. matinee performance Nov. 2.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. No advance tickets will be sold.
The high school is at 3200 School Drive in Murrysville.
