Scripps Middle School drama teacher Leann Lowe reports that neither the days, nor the Knights at the school, have been particularly silent of late.
The reason, she says, is that about 90 seventh- and eighth-graders have been busy preparing for the school’s Fourth Annual Madrigal Dinner Theater.
The event will include a four-course traditional holiday feast, served amidst dancing, singing, jousting, trumpeting, plays and comedy, all presented by the young cast.
The nearly three-hour medieval-style program begins at 6 p.m., so you won’t want to be late, says Lowe.
In addition to the talents of the young thespians, the Madrigal Dinner Theater will feature seven soloists from the school choir and a pair of trumpeters from the band. Lowe added that tentative plans include the addition of some string players from the high school.
The dinner will be served by students attired in full costume representative of the medieval period, with a king and queen and various other royalty presiding over the event.
Madrigal participant Jule Pacey, 14, says audience members should find themselves amused by the level of humor inthe dinner theater.
‘The jokes are really bad, but they’re supposed to be that way,? says Jule. ‘It’s been fun trying to learn how to speak with all the ‘thees? and ‘thous? of the people from Medieval times. We’re all talking to one another like that now, and it’s pretty funny.?
Thirteen-year-old Sara Henry, who like Jule performs as a server in the dinner theater, likes the feeling of being transported back to earlier times.
‘The way we dress and talk is like going back to the olden? days,? says Sara. ‘When the people leave that night, they’ll feel like they’ve gone back in time.?
Keeping things in the present, members of the school’s art club will be selling traditional pottery and roses during the event.
The seating capacity for the event is about 240 people and last year’s Madrigal Dinner Theater was sold out, Lowe pointed out. So tickets may be at a minimum.