By Tim Leeds
The wild things are at the fair.
Actually, local children will be performing "Where the Wild Things Are" at the Great Northern Fair.
Twenty children from the Montana Actors Theatre Summer Children's Theatre camp will present the play adapted from Maurice Sendak's children's classic at 1 p.m. Friday at the free stage at the Hill County Fairground. The camp started meeting at the Montana State University-Northern Theatre July 30 to start learning about drama and to select a play to perform. The Havre P.E.O. chapter sponsored the camp.
Sam Stuart, director of the Summer Children's Theatre, said the group chose "Where the Wild Things Are" by the end of last week, then spent this week learning lines, building sets, props and costumes, and rehearsing.
The camp held practices all day the first part of this week, meeting from 9 a.m. to noon, then returning from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Stuart said the camp needed the extra time to get all the sets, props and costumes ready, along with learning lines and practicing the scenes. Stuart said the kids seem to like it.
"They're enjoying it tremendously," he said. "They seem to be having a very good time; lots of energy, lots of excitement."
Stuart was a coordinator at last year's children's camp, the first year it was held.
Havre needs something to help create a love of drama and the theater, Stuart said. He added that MAT saw a need for the summer camp and considers it an integral part of the Havre acting group.
