Twenty area youths between the ages of five and 15 will own the stage at the Chilkat Center Friday and Saturday for the Summer Youth Theater Conservatory’s performances of “The Jungle Book.”

Shows start at 7:30 p.m.

Director Elise Lammers, a drama teacher from a private school in Chicago, was walking young actors through their lines and cues Tuesday, although it was clear some would rather squirm, gesture and play.

“You do a variety of things to keep them engaged. They want to have fun but I tell them, the better you know (the play), the more fun you’ll have. I hope they trust me on that,” Lammers said.

Lammers’ biggest challenge was missing about half of the three-week program after surgery for a broken collar bone. She crashed on her bike on the camp’s fourth day.

“I’m very physical in the way I direct. Movement is something I integrate in my instruction and I haven’t been able to demonstrate that to kids. That’s stressful because I have less time to learn how to teach differently,” she said.

Another challenge is the wide age difference in the program’s student actors, she said. “You have to have a curriculum and a process that’s appropriate for a kid that’s five and a teenager that’s 15.”

She said she chose “The Jungle Book” as a script because its appeal seemed to span that age gap and for its straightforward staging requirements. The play is the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle who reunites with humans at age 13.

The play’s characters are jungle beasts and friends. The moral is that man and beasts can live harmoniously, Lammers said. Summer resident Natalie Cosgrove plays Mowgli. Madison Chapin is Baloo, Mowgli’s bear friend, and Charlie Henry plays Shere Khan, the tiger out for Mowgli. Tia Heywood plays several roles.

Eight students in the program between the ages of five and seven will play wolf cubs. They will dance at the middle and beginning of the play.

The one-act play will run an hour, 15 minutes.

Alexis Alamillo of Haines is the assistant director. High school English teacher Rene Martin also is helping out.

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