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Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable is coming to the Sunset Theatre in Wells

The play is about a teacher as she prepares her young students to deal with an active gunman
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Elena Belyea wrote and performs in Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable. Mike Tan photo

Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable is coming to the Sunset Theatre in Wells.

A response to mass shootings in schools across the US, Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes Prepare for the Inevitable is about a hyper-vigilant teacher trying to prepare her students for, well, the inevitable.

The first 20 people in the audience will be given name tags, and be referred to as a specific students in Miss Katelyn’s class. But the entire audience is encouraged to participate as students, as their teacher advises them on the best ways to deal with a rampaging gunman.

Miss Katelyn’s Grade Threes, written and performed by Elena Belyea and directed by Emma Tibaldo, has been performed in fringe festivals across the country.

Belyea was inspired to write the play after an experience she had walking through a mall on Boxing Day a few years ago. It occurred to her that that place, in that moment, would be a prime spot to target if someone wanted to commit a mass shooting. Then she wondered why she had thought something so morbid in the first place.

Much like what happened to Belyea, she says her show is about a woman “who, despite being a grounded, rational person, is experiencing the anxiety that I think a lot of people are feeling in this present moment, just in terms of not feeling safe in their own communities and schools.”

The show is part of the Presentation series at the Sunset Theatre. The Presentation series brings in shows that have already been performed elsewhere across Canada to good reviews.

READ MORE: One-woman show coming to Wells’ Sunset Theatre

Karen Jeffery, the executive artistic director at Sunset Theatre, says the show is “funny at the same time as it’s gut wrenching. It’s like watching a car wreck in a way – it’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ The audience gets drawn into it in a way that they become the grade threes.”

The school principal also makes an appearance in the show, checking in on the class to see what Miss Katelyn is teaching them. A Wells local, James Douglas, is filling this role.

The show runs on July 23 and 24, 2018 and starts at 8 p.m. both nights. Tickets are available at the door.



heather.norman@quesnelobserver.com

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