The Brave News

Last week, the Five Sisters Theatre Company of St. Joseph’s High School took the audience’s breath away with their Spring performance of Shrek: The Musical.

Based on the book by William Steig and the popular Dreamworks film, Shrek: The Musical is a touching tale about learning to love people for who they are. Most are familiar with animated film, but the musical adaptation brings the show to new heights and seeing Bosco and St. Joseph students up on stage made the story all the more entertaining.

Directed by Larry Van Deventer, the story follows an ogre named Shrek, played by junior Connor Sheehan and his trusty sidekick, Donkey, played by junior Alex Palmer. Together they set off on a quest to deliver Princess Fiona, played by junior Oliva Herron, to Lord Farquaad, played by senior Kriss Valente, in exchange for the swamp Shrek calls home.

At the beginning of the play, others see Shrek as a scary monster, so he shuts the world out, believing that people will only ever see him this way. However, as the story progresses, Shrek learns that just because he looks like a monster on the outside, he doesn’t have to act like savagely on the inside. This heart-warming message of self-love is aligned with the Salesian message of St. John Bosco.

Connor played the lead role of Shrek. The combination of his wide range of vocals, his talented acting and a little bit of green face paint really came together to bring the character to life.

“It’s a fun character to play. He’s not completely goofy, but he also has a lot of bravery to him. Some would call him a Byronic hero, kind of like an antihero,” said Connor.

The comedy throughout the play was top tier, as every joke had the audience filled with laughter. The array of fairytale characters such as the Big, Bad Wolf, played by senior Diego Tavares, Pinocchio, played by Izzy Prata, and the Gingerbread Man, played by junior Kate Sheehan, Connor’s twin sister, only amplified this comedy.

“The show was really good compared to other school plays I’ve seen. [The Five Sisters Theatre Company] put a lot of work into it and it really shows,” said senior Luis Salazar

The next production starring students from St. Joseph and St. John Bosco will be The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which premieres in April 29th under the direction of St. John Bosco’s very own Director of Theater Production, Mr. Martin Lang.