By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

Last year, Offshoot Productions performed a play called “The Trial of Goldilocks.” It was an adaptation of the beloved fairy tale and it needed a little something.

Offshoot's artistic director, Susan Steadman, wrote several curtain raisers for “Goldilocks” that involved children from the audience coming on stage and participating briefly in the production.

“It was fantastic,“ said Steadman. “The children were very excited to be contributing onstage and the audience loved it as well.” The positive response to the audience interaction in “Goldilocks” led Steadman to two other adaptations of children's stories, “Cinderella, Cinderella” and “Treasure Island,” both of which will be performed at McIntosh High School July 16-18 and July 22-25.

The plays were not written by Steadman, but because there is so much interaction with the audience required, it is up to the director and the cast how to pull it off. The plays are condensed and are very loose adaptations. For example, the character of Jim Hawkins is now called Jamie and is played by a girl. Much of the violence is also missing from “Treasure Island” to make it easier to perform and more accessible for more children.

The cast for both productions is wildly divergent. There are two professional actors performing and assisting the cast, while some of the performers have never set foot on a stage before. There have been a number of challenges in getting the shows ready, the major one being accounting for the presence of the children onstage and how to address them.

During rehearsals, the cast from the play not being rehearsed becomes the audience. It gives the actors no indication of how it will really go during performance. “It will be a disaster if not many children show up,” said Steadman. It is a great opportunity for local kids, though, and the plays are very upbeat and funny.

“I really think these plays give children an excellent opportunity to extend their sense of play,” said Steadman. “While they are on stage, they realize that what they do when they pretend is not much different than what actors do. They can transform themselves. For an afternoon they are pirates or at a grand ball with Cinderella. They are stars.”

Since she doesn't know how well these plays will go off, Steadman isn't able to say whether she will do something like this again. The plays and the possibilities have excited her though, to think of ways she could write and produce her own adaptations made for interactive theater.

Perhaps what she finds so interesting is the improvisation that is required by the actors and the children. Improvisation is to make something up on the spot and most of us have a natural tendency toward this, especially when we are children. The cast works hard at playing with each other as they interact and the energy is contagious.

“Cinderella, Cinderella” will be performed this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., while “Treasure Island” will be performed this Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. “Treasure Island” will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24, while “Cinderella, Cinderella” will be performed Saturday and Sunday, July 24 and 25, at 3 p.m. There will be a special performance for large groups Thursday, July 22 at 10 a.m.

Tickets are on sale now for $5 at the Peachtree City Library, Omega Book Center in Peachtree City, and the Fayette Book Shop in Fayetteville. For information call Offshoot Productions at 770-631-2362.

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