Wharton County Junior College students Riley Moseley of East Bernard, left, and Valerie Brown of Eagle Lake rehearse a scene from “The Three Bully Goats Griff.” The play is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, April 28, and noon Saturday, April 29, at the Horton Foote Theatre on the Wharton campus. The show is free and open to the public.
WHARTON, TEXAS – The Wharton County Junior College Drama Department will tackle a unique version of a classic Norwegian fairy tale for their upcoming show, and they’ll rely almost exclusively on student direction to put it all together.
“The Three Bully Goats Griff” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, April 28, and noon Saturday, April 29, at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building on the Wharton campus. The event is free and open to the public.
The play was written by Patrick Rainville Dorn and uses the familiar setting of the classic fairy tale “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” as a means of addressing modern-day issues of bullying. WCJC Drama Instructor Jami Hughes said she has wanted to present the play for several years due to its humor and message.
“I thought that would be a good idea to have a sort of moral to the story,” she said.
Unlike many of the other productions, “The Three Bully Goats Griff” is entirely directed and acted by WCJC drama students. Hughes’ role is more of an overseer or producer.
“I have answered a few questions and helped out with some ideas, but they have really done this by themselves,” she said. “All costumes and props have also been student designed. Everyone has gotten along great and works together well.”
Student directors are Ben Wandell of Needville and Wil Harborth of Wharton. Wandell said he enjoyed taking a directorial role in the show and working with his classmates.
“The cast was very timely with getting everything done, and they made our jobs easier as student directors,” he said. “The fact that they were our peers didn’t matter at all. They treated us like legitimate directors.”
Harborth said the process was quite smooth.
“It was an important learning experience,” he said.
Cast and crew include Luis Perez of Wharton, Valerie Brown of Eagle Lake, Karis Meek of Boling, Jamie Arar of Bay City, Riley Moseley of East Bernard, Hamza Mir of Richmond, C’Aira Hearse of Wharton, Brayden Leva of Sugar Land, Crystal Hackstedt of Needville, Maegan Hackstedt of Needville, Hannah Miller of Edna and Alina DeJesus of Edna.
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