Wearing sheep ears in place of a headband, Kaleigh Casimir ’29 “baaa’ed” loudly to an audience full of preschool students. On May 8, members of Ms. Maureen O’Connor’s Theater Arts classes, transformed Room 139 into a stage and performed a series of five timeless fables for their young audience from Ms. Kathy Hendricks’ Child Development class.

“What I like about this is not only does it give the little kids a chance to see live theater,” said O’Connor, “but it gives the actual actors a chance to perform live theater within the school day, so that they can get that authentic experience.”

Narrators Siara Vazquez ‘27 and Kayianna Lee ‘28 opened up the show, and the first performance featured Casimir, and Samuel Obare ‘26, who played the wolf, in “The Wolf and the Lamb.” This fable allowed the children to understand a more complex concept in simpler terms: people often make excuses to harm the innocent.

“She gave us a script, and we had to read different parts and different roles. And I guess she chose mine when I auditioned for The Sheep. Apparently, my ‘ba’ was really realistic,” said Casimir.

The fable was followed by “The Lion and the Mouse,” which told the tale of a Mouse who saved a Lion, the king of the jungle. Cecilia Li ‘29, who played the Mouse, and Owen Genzano ‘28, who played the Lion, used both emotion-filled dialogue and facial expressions to illustrate the story’s mood. The Hunters, Alfred played by Pristine Chau ‘29, Frederick played by Abubakarr Sowa ‘26, and Winnifred played by Samyrah Walker ‘29, similarly used body language and diction to embody each of their individual personas.

“I also like it because for the little kids, that teaches them a lesson. It’s not just something silly for them to watch,” said O’Connor. “Hopefully, they learn something from it as much as my kids are learning to perform for them.”

In a similar vein to the first fable, the play featured another fable involving a lamb and a wolf, but this time in the classic fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” The Boy, played by Aulani Rivera ‘29, repeatedly lies about the appearance of a wolf, causing him to lose the trust of his Aunt, Paola Romero Flores ‘27, his Mother, Nancy Martinez Reyes ‘26, and his Uncle, Abubakarr Sowa ‘26. As a result, when the Wolf, played once again by Obare, came to prey on the boy’s sheep, no one came to the boy’s rescue. Through the performance, O’Connor aimed to teach the audience the lesson that liars will not be believed, even when they tell the truth.

“The Ant and the Grasshopper” introduced four additional actors: the Grasshopper played by Candie Northern ‘27 and the Ants played by Alice Garcia ‘29, Nahmira Washington ‘27, and Nyjir Eato ‘27. This tale showed the importance of hard work and preparation for the future, as well as providing diverse roles for the actors to fill.

“It’s something that all of the teenage children have an idea or a reference for,” said O’Connor. “It also has a wide variety of characters, so we can get every single person involved.”

To close out the show, Victoria Cordova Chumbes ‘26, playing the Tortoise, and Chau, playing the Hare, performed one of the most widely recognized Aesop’s fables of “The Tortoise and The Hare,” but with a more modern twist.

“While the Hunter was a goofy comedic side character, the Hare was a character role pivotal for the tale and required more range of emotion,” said Chau. “I was required to put on more of a voice to fit her fast pace.”

Rather than a race involving running, this tale took place in a classroom with the Hare and the Tortoise being students. In this version of the fable, the two Teachers, played by Tanvir Bhamra ‘26 and Vanessa Angel ‘27, assign homework which the Tortoise completes while the Hare fails to do so.

“For the teacher, Mrs. O’Connor said I should try to be like Ms. Honey from Matilda. To seem sweeter, I had attempted to pitch up my voice, although I don’t think I was very consistent in using it,” said Bhamra. “I wanted the kids to understand Ms. Owl was someone caring and understanding who never let any student get left behind.”

The fable concluded with a positive ending, with the Hare accepting her failures and becoming friends with the Tortoise. The fable’s conclusion communicates two themes: that hard work and consistency lead to success, and that friendships can be created through overcoming differences.

“Afterwards, I was just happy to have been able to perform. For me, there is always a rewarding sense of accomplishment after performing a production,” said Chau.