Photo Flash: Acorn Productions Closes Season with RED RIDING HOODS, Now thru 6/17

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing performing artists, offers local audience to find out what might happen if Little Red Riding Hood had a big sister and the Big Bad Wolf had a jealous younger brother. "Red Riding Hoods," adapted and directed by Michael Levine, also throws in a "Valley Girl" witch obsessed with winning a beauty contest," a detective addicted to junk food, and a guygirl named Bob to create a slapstick-comedy filled twist on the classic story. The play is the third and final show in Acorn's Fairy Tale Players third season of "fractured" stories retold with a modern tongue-in-cheek twist for audiences of all ages at the company's Studio Theater in the Dana Warp Mill.

See photos of the quirky cast below!

"Red Riding Hoods" opens its run at Westbrook Together Days with a performance in Riverbank Park at 11am, and then continues with 5 more performance from today, June 3 to June 17 on Saturdays at 11am and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. Call Acorn at 854-0065 or visit www.acorn-productions.org for more information or to order tickets.

"Red Riding Hoods" begins with the traditional send-off by Mom to grandma's house through the woods with a basket of treats. Only the sisters can't seem to get along, and soon split up in the woods, where older sister (Big Red) meets the Ninja Wolf while Little Red becomes lost on her own. Meanwhile, the witch has sent Alexander C. Wolfe along with his sidekick Bob to intercept the girls and steal their cloak so she can win her third straight "Miss Witch" Pagaent. The last character in this crazy trip through the woods is Homer the Detective, who seems more interested in the next package of Little Debbie's instead of finding the girls. When everyone does arrive at grandma's, several unexpected twists play out before the surprise ending that will leave audiences wanting more.

The play showcases the talents of Acorn Acting Academy students Sydney Cowand of Gorham, Nate Jacobs and Abigayle Milewski from Westbrook, Emma Torraca Jones from Falmouth, and Mae Livermore, Justin Reid, and Cameron Wood who live in Portland. The original characters in the script were created by the actors in the Acorn Acting Academy's spring acting class "Little Red Riding Hood." The resulting story contains Three Stooges-style slapstick humor, plenty of jokes for the older crowd, and enough silly antics to delight even the youngest of audience members. Acorn's Fairy Tale Players are currently finishing up their third season of productions that showcase the talents of our student actors in original "fractured" version of familiar fables.

"Red Riding Hoods," adapted and directed by Michael Levine and performed byAcorn Productions' Fairy Tale Players, runs at the Acorn Studio Theater, 90 Bridge St., Westbrook, Sunday, June 3 at 2pm, Saturday, June 9 at 11am, Sunday, June 10 at 2pm, Saturday, June 16 at 11am and Sunday, June 17 at 2pm. Tickets are $6 adults; $4 kids 12 and under. For more information, call 854-0065 or visit www.acorn-productions.org.

Photo credit: Michael Levine

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