Youth Theater Play a Departure for CSUN

The play tells the tale of a young orphan named Girl who is passed from family to family in a small southern Illinois town. Girl is desperately searching for herself in the faces of those she encounters--and even turns to witchcraft when she suspects that her real mother is a witch who lives atop a mountain.

The Cal State Northridge theater department’s latest Theater for Youth production, “Mother Hicks,” is a departure from traditional children’s fare. The play appeals to older children and teenagers and deals with present-day themes in plain language that kids can appreciate. CSUN students said they were drawn to the play’s mature theme.

“I’ve never done youth theater before,” said student Andrea Gioulis, who plays Alma Ward, the girl’s most recent foster mother. “I always thought it was all about baby talk, count to 3 and ABCs. When I read this play, I didn’t realize it was meant for kids. It’s written in adult language, and that’s the way you have to talk to kids.”

“There is a whole world of dramatic literature for young audiences that people just don’t hear about,” said director Tekla Ackelson-Wright. “The university is the perfect place to expose the community, and the students, to it.”

“Mother Hicks” is targeted at children ages 8 to 15, who might identify with a 13-year-old orphan’s search for a family in a struggling town during the Great Depression.

Mother Hicks, with the help of a deaf boy from town, ultimately teaches Girl to stop looking outside for her identity and instead turn inward to “find her name.”

The play opened Friday. It continues at 2 p.m. next Saturday and Sunday, in the drama building at the corner of Nordhoff Street and Etiwanda Avenue. Tickets are $5 at the door, or call (818) 677-3093.