Novi Middle School to bring fantasy to life with presentation of ‘The Hobbit’

NOVI — Children in the Novi Middle School theater department will bring the classic fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien to life with a presentation of “The Hobbit” on Oct.18.

“I chose to do ‘The Hobbit’ because it is a classic story from many years ago, but with the film adaptations a few years back, I thought it would be a great way to introduce the kids to this sprawling world and give them a book to fall back on if they had any questions,” said Joseph Green, Novi Middle School theater director.

The play, which is based on the classic 1937 novel, tells the story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, which are small humanlike creatures, with the wizard Gandalf, along with 13 dwarves of Thorin’s Company as they go on a quest to reclaim the dwarves’ treasures and home from a dragon.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Sakeena Ehtesham, 12. “It has a lot of entertaining things about it. It has some funny moments. It has some serious moments and it’s really a good, well-written play.”

Aarav Chakravartti, 13, portrays Thorin in the production. He said he decided to join the play because he really likes fantasy novels, but his favorite thing about the play is seeing the results of all their hard work.

“It’s awesome to see everything come together,” he said.

The middle school production company this year utilizes the skills of 29 students, including 18 actors and 11 stage and technical crew members.

Middle school plays offer a setting for some experienced youth to continue to find their niche in the field and others to experience the art for the first time.

“I’ve recently been interested in theater and wanted to try it out,” Ehtesham said.

Ehtesham said she participated in a theater camp over the summer and really liked it.  She said she especially likes the thrill of acting on stage.

“It’s kind of scary being on stage, but that’s kind of what I’m here for,” Ehtesham said. “It’s just a really overwhelming feeling and I enjoy that.”

Ehtesham portrays the male character Balin in the production. She said she doesn’t mind playing a male role.

“It’s not really holding me back as I never really cared about gender,” she said.

“I’m grateful that they let it happen, because other places probably wouldn’t let females act out male characters,” she said. “I think it is really cool that they let us do that here.”

She said the biggest challenge in portraying the opposite gender is knowing the differences between males and females in the way that they talk and react to things.

“My favorite part of this play was working with the actors on their characters,” Green said. “The students would come up with such great ideas and stories about their characters and hopefully use that to help their performance.”

Ehtesham said she took inspiration to formulate her character from the characters she read about in other fantasy books, such as “Keeper of the Lost Cities,” by Shannon Messenger.  Ehtesham said she perceives her character to be a kind of authority figure, such as a parent and a mentor.

Chakravartti on the other hand said he drew inspiration from his character’s portrayal in the films.

“I hope these students will learn to think creatively and abstractly,” Green said. “My goal was to provide the students with all the tools and guidance necessary and let them tackle each project how they saw fit.”

Along with acting, the students were able to choose, design and create their character’s weapon for the show. Each weapon in the production was made for the presentation by the individual actor.

Landon Stevenson, 12, operates the soundboard during the show. He said that he has been acting for “many” years and wanted to give the technical side a try. He decided this would be the perfect stage for him to do so, as the middle school has a “great” tech program. Stevenson said he prefers acting but still enjoys working behind the scenes.

“I get to be helpful backstage and I kind of like being with the audience instead of being in front of the audience,” Stevenson said of his experience on tech crew.

Stage manager Shivani Thurman, 13, said that her greatest challenge with the show is knowing when to give the appropriate cues for the various sounds to Stevenson. She said she has been involved in both sides of theater for years, but unlike Stevenson, she prefers to work behind the scenes.

“I decided to try being stage manager because it’s always been one of my dreams to have, like, a big tech role,” she said.

She said the technical roles offer kids who might get stage fright a role within the theater. The tech department allows her to have more free-flowing creativity with sound effects and other things, Thurman said.

Stevenson and Thurman said that prop making took up most of the tech crew’s time. They said they really loved making the dragon tail for the production. The tail is nearly the length of the stage and is made from spray-painted cardboard. It features hand-carved and hand-painted wood pieces for the scales.

The actors and the tech crew members said they enjoy the improvisational sections of the production. They emphasized that there is a fair amount of humor in the show.

“In the middle of a scene, the people in the audience will have a little chuckle,” Stevenson said.

Green spoke about the benefits of theater.

“Theater is such a unique experience to any other extracurricular. Our students learn to think and problem-solve creatively, express themselves both as performers but also as young adults,” he said. “Most importantly, these students develop a sense of confidence in themselves and their team, and ownership of their work.”

Green also mentioned the quality of the production that the students have made.

“I believe the audience will be truly surprised and captivated by the level of authenticity that our crew has put into the set and costume design as well as the level of character depth and understanding I believe our actors bring to the show. The level of talent these students possess is mind-boggling,” he said.

The one-hour play will be held in the school auditorium. Tickets cost $10 cash or check and are available at the door or can be purchased at the NMS Welcome Center or front office.