Could you pay the price? What price you may ask? Would you give your sight, your voice, your blood, your youth for some you loved? Would you give it all for the chance that they’d live? That’s what a mother gave for her daughter’s life. She bled, cried, sang, and gave her life for the chance to try and save her own. The Cannon Falls Theatre is depicting the story “The Price” by Don Zolidis about a mother whose young daughter was taken by death for their One Act this year.
One Act is a competitive event when a group of actors from multiple schools all go somewhere and perform for judges. The group of actors can be no larger than 20 kids. There are 3 judges every year, and there are 2 major categories: dramatic and humorous, all competing against each other.
This play is unique compared to other productions performed here. It’s not humorous like Cannon Falls normally does, but a dramatic piece. It’s not any dramatic piece though. It’s a brand new script called “The Price” about a mother who gave everything for her young daughter. It’s a very heartwarming piece about the struggles of being a mother in a more enhanced form.
The director this year is Annie Pederson, and has directed 6 shows previously, making this her 7th show. This show is different from any show she’s done before because she normally does humorous productions. This piece is very dramatic and intriguing while still being heartwarming. She picked this piece because in her words “Dramatic pieces tend to be a bit more challenging.” Pederson also said that she was looking at a different piece when she heard about “The Price” being a new story based on “The Story of a Mother” by Hans Christian Anderson. Pederson states “It turned out that we were able to license it directly from the playwright (Don Zolidis) which means that no one else will have the same piece as us when we go to competitions this year.”
The cast has opinions on this piece too. Returning actress Anya Nygaard said that “I think it’s better (to have a dramatic piece) because more of the dramatic pieces win (the competition) over humorous.” Nygaard also stated that they bring more attention to the matter or issue it’s about.
Normally, the theatre gets the same kids who do the regular productions act in One Act, but this year some of the usual theatre kids, along with new ones have decided to join the One Act this year. These new cast members in middle school this year are Axel Lundel, Tucker Nobach, and Livett Webb. Anya Nygaard and Kira Manning are the returning 8th graders this year, both having participated in the One Act last year, which was “The AI Play.” All of these cast and crew members bring a variety of skills to the performance. Every single one of these members has been in previous shows or performances whether it be helping behind the scenes or on stage acting.
At competition, the Cannon Falls Theater is hoping to do very well and hopefully place, but it will take lots of effort to show the struggles this mother has gone through. The mother, on her journey, met a thorn bush where her blood warmed the frozen earth and brought life to the forest and she met Night where she sang until she couldn’t sing one more word and then finally after her many struggles she was reunited with her daughter in the garden of death.
