An ogre, a princess, a donkey and a slew of fairy tale creatures are terrorized by a halfling tyrant with a Napoleon complex. Out of this unusual combination of characters comes a remarkably moving story of love, friendship, bravery, diversity and, most of all, acceptance.
If you are thinking that this is just another movie-turned-musical, think again. Shrek’s journey to save the princess and win back his home leads the audience on a multi-” layered” journey of self-discovery and reflection. Along the trip we all will remember ourselves struggling with life situations like those Shrek faces along his trek.
The thing that makes this unique ogre’s story so interesting is his humanity. Shrek is everyone. Everyone has been the outsider. Everyone has been unfairly excluded. Everyone has layers and sadly we have all judged as we have all been judged. Too many of us have put people in convenient categories based on any number of things, ranging from race, religion, political affiliations. (Jocks vs. Theater Geeks ring a bell?) As we see, throughout his life, Shrek has been the victim of this, and at times, he is guilty of the very same mistake. What is more human than that?
This production has been a truly educational experience for all of us. We are blessed here at SWMHS with a wonderful production team of teachers, student actors, student technicians, as well as parent and community volunteers who have shown their love and passion for theater every day. This has been a production of new starts, new techniques, experimentation and most of all - change. While not all of it has been easy, it has been thrilling and incredibly exciting to be a part of!!
I would like to thank my amazing cast, crew and production team for their incredible support and energy throughout this adventure. I could not be prouder of their dedication, work and drive to achieve excellence and truth in performance.
Finally, as you watch this beautiful production this evening, we are one in our belief that “What makes us different makes us strong!” We also believe that the Arts change lives. We have the ability as artists and performers to change the present as well as the future. It is our sincere hope that this story of acceptance, diversity and love can help everyone in our audience become more aware of everyone’s role in this “Big Bright Beautiful World” that we share.