Chapter 163 - Drama Program (1/2)
Abby's actors were horribly unskilled and it took about a week for them to memorize what few lines they had. For the most part she was narrating as much of the story as she could. She finally deemed it fit for public consumption when the kids were able to make it through two run-throughs in a row without forgetting their lines.
They decided to surprise Katie at the library after secretly setting the sign out front from ”open” to ”closed.” While she was putting some returned books back where they belonged, they snuck in and moved some of the furniture around to clear a space for a stage.
Then they set up one particular couch with as many pillows as they could find and a soft wool blanket. A big bowl of the potato ch.i.p.s Sia made was set next to it.
Jasper, Nyla's oldest child who was playing the role of Frodo Baggins, went over to fetch Katie under the pretense of asking for help so the show could begin. Al even left his duties for a while so he could play the role of Gandalf.
Katie was led to the couch and was thoroughly confused when she saw all of the children in costumes peeking out from between the bookshelves but tears appeared in the corner of her eyes when she caught sight of the potato ch.i.p.s. That was when she started to catch on.
The tears were flowing freely as she grinned up at her sister once the narration began. Abby dramatically recited, ”Long ago in the land of Middle Earth there were twenty rings of power divided between the different races. Three to the elves, seven to the dwarves, nine to the world of men, and one to the Dark Lord Sauron…”
She tried using as many direct quotes and scenes from the movies as she could remember. All things considered, she did a fairly good job. She hadn't watched them all the way through six or seven times for nothing.
There was a lot of condensing but she made sure to include important thematic music by singing it with ”da da das,” ”doo doo doos,” and ”dun dun duns.” Singing instrumental music was hard and she felt ridiculous but the look on Katie's face was totally worth it.
Each of the three movies was condensed into approximately twenty minutes of acting and narration, trying to keep the most important parts in, so the whole play was only an hour long. But Katie looked every bit as enthralled as she would have watching the real thing.
She laughed at some of the kids' over-the-top acting and Al's ridiculous paper wizard hat. And when the Balrog, a seven-year-old girl named Sidi who was only recognizable by the sign around her neck with the label ”Balrog” on it, pulled Al off of a table to mimic being pulled down the cliff as he said the iconic line ”fly, you fools.”
That part really got to her. She howled with glee and clapped extra hard as the scene changed and they dragged the table away.
Katie loved the kids' valiant attempts at recreating Helm's Deep out of tables and using tiny wood bows with pointless arrows to attack each other during the battle too. She watched them go as Abby sang the dramatic battle music as best she could.