Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published (with a different selection of photos) in The Floyd Press on December 16, 2010.

In spite of the wintry weather and Emerson Perry’s sore throat, last Saturday’s performances of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer played to packed crowds.

Perry played the part of Tom Sawyer in the Young Actors Co-op (YAC) production of the classic Mark Twain story about childhood adventure and following one’s conscience.  The two act play, set on the banks of the Mississippi River in the summer of 1852, began with a splash, as a river scene created by a large, spread-out parachute was carried across the Sun Music Hall stage and into the audience.

Structured around a narrative delivered by Twain himself (played by Bethlehem Cherrix) and songs sung at scene changes by Kyla Robbins, the production had all the drama one would expect from live theater, including a murder, a funeral, mischief making, school house flirting, a flashing echo chamber dream sequence, a couple of gravediggers, and a courtroom surprise.

Period costumes and dialects added to the entertainment.  The sets were inventive and the action moved right along.   Under the direction of YAC founder Rose McCutchan, this community theater troupe of seasoned young actors and newcomers was well deserving of the rousing applause they received for their performance of Twain’s timeless story.   ~ Colleen Redman

Note:  Search “YAC Tom Sawyer” on YouTube for video clips of the performance or click on some of the embedded links above.  Visit YAC on Facebook or at myspace.com/floydyac for more information on the Young Actors Co-op.