In November, the Notre Dame Theater Department took a student-written adaptation of The Gruffalo on tour to Most Holy Trinity Grade School. This project was directed and organized by Gigi '26 and Lila '26 for their senior capstone community service project. It is the first of 3 tour stops as our students give back to our community through their love of theater. This is their story.
Written by Gigi '26 and Lila '26
The Gruffalo is a passion project. Having both been involved in theater as kids, Gigi and Lila believe that having access to youth theater programs is incredibly important. Their goal with the Theater for YOUth Initiative, and The Gruffalo in particular, is to make sure that as many children as possible have the same formative experiences that they were lucky enough to have. This program gives elementary students an opportunity to see a live performance and learn from high school students about what they can do with their skills in the future. In addition, it provides ND students hands-on experience working with youth while developing their own leadership skills!
This show has been a months-long process, beginning with selecting a children’s book to adapt into a short stage play back in May, followed by outreach to schools in the summer, auditions in August, and weekly rehearsals throughout September, October, and November — all while communicating with schools to coordinate performance dates. Behind the scenes, Gabe '26 headed costume design and the set-building process. Gigi directed the show and was lead of hair design, Lila managed the stage, and the two shared responsibility for sets. The talented cast includes Jo '26, Genevieve '27, Pragnya '27, Ava '27, Fiona '28, Josie '28, Maren '29, and Minnah '29.
The Gruffalo will be presented alongside the ND Theater Department’s competitive one-act piece, Six: Teen Edition, and Drama 1 scenes on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7pm in Julie Billiart Hall during the Winter Showcase! Additionally, The Gruffalo was most recently performed at Most Holy Trinity on Tuesday, Nov. 18 and River Glen Elementary on Tuesday, Dec. 2, with a visit to Holy Family scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12. If you know of a school that would benefit from these programs, please reach out to bringsted@ndsj.org. ND Theater for YOUth organizers would love to work with them!
