Children go on "King Arthur's Quest"

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William A. O'Brien
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  More than 60 Incirlik children entertained packed audiences during two performances of "King Arthur's Quest" Aug. 20 at the community center here.

To prepare for the play, the children auditioned for parts Aug. 15 and spent the rest of the week learning their roles as they were assisted by members of the Missoula Children's Theatre from Missoula, Mont.

"We have 64 kids involved," said Shawna Jean-Marie Smith, Missoula Children's Theatre director. "There are 60 kids in the play and we also have four assistant directors. They play all the lead roles so they have a lot of work to do in the week leading up to it. They have to learn their lines, the dances and songs. It's a big job for them."

Missoula visits a variety of public venues in the U.S. and 20 countries overseas.

"We go to schools, community centers and churches," said Smith. "We also go to just about every base in the states and a select few overseas. The people are really friendly, and the people on base have been wonderful to us. The community center and youth center have been really helpful; and anything we've needed, they've gone above and beyond out of their way to help us and make sure we felt at home and welcomed here."

The excitement of performing in front of an audience after a week of practice helped some participants perform better than they had leading up to the final performance.

"Sometimes they get tired of it because they're doing the same thing all week, but when you bring in the audience, that pumps them up and gives them a boost," said Smith. "There were kids who were more outgoing than they've been all week. That performance was just amazing."

The time spent working on this play also gave the children an opportunity to meet other children from around the base.

"It was a lot of fun, and you get to meet new people and get to know new people," said one of the actors. "This went very well. Everyone did their parts great."

The Missoula Children's Theatre assists in the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts. The benefit of theater for children is it helps them get comfortable talking in front of people.

"This helps them to build self-confidence," said Smith. "A lot of them don't think they can do something like this; but the fact they do something that a professional actor can't even do, it builds up their self-esteem and confidence. Also it helps them with public speaking for them to perform up in front of so many people."

After the performance, the children took their pictures in costume and were congratulated by family and friends for their performance.

"These kids worked on this for like a week, but it feels like less than a week because they were only here for a few hours each day," said Yvonne Gomez, who attended the play. "For it to go so smoothly shows they really put their hearts into it."