Nothing boosts a social media account quite like animal content.
At least that's what Goldilocks decides as she haunts the forest around a fictional Nelson Town for selfies with animals.
In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the 35th annual winter community production at The Capitol Theatre that runs Nov. 28-Dec. 1, Goldilocks is reinterpreted by actor Cetonaya Sammartino as a precocious social media influencer.
Sammartino, who at 18 years old is already a veteran of the Capitol's stage, said Goldilocks is a different type of villain than audiences are used to seeing.
“I tried to imagine what a child, who was very smart, how they would act as a social media star. It's very interesting, because I've got a teenage-like speech in which I talk. I'm talking like a chronically online teenager, but I am a child and I'm also a genius. So it's an interesting way to meld it together.”
Director Laurie Jarvis said the production, which every year puts a locally relevant spin on old stories, was inspired by a grizzly mother bear and two cubs who took residence last year in Gyro Park.
Jarvis said she worked with Joanne Siderius of the Kokanee Creek Nature Centre to recast the fable as a tale of human encroachment on nature from the perspective of animals, many of whom are just as fascinated by us as we are of them.
“What I like about this is there’s more of a direct line to people’s experience. We've all got bear stories. We've all had encounters with bears, or know people who've had encounters with bears, so I think that’s what keeps it on point.”
The annual winter production is unique from other plays as it invites young children and their parents to take part in what is usually their first acting experiences.
Nikko Snyder and her sons Asher, 10, and Alistair, six, play a family of raccoons while her partner Jeremy Sauer is in the role of Papa Bear. After Asher enjoyed performing in a school play at Winlaw Elementary, the family decided to support him by taking on a theatre production.
It was a big commitment. The family practised their lines and choreography at home and also worked on songs during car trips.
“It felt like a great opportunity for [Asher] to get some different experience with a bigger production," said Nikko. "And so we thought, we'll all support Asher to have this experience, and then we get to, too.”
Lisa Johnson was a CBC radio reporter in Nelson when she first encountered the annual production and was inspired to take part but couldn't. Twenty years later she is married, has two children and finally had the opportunity to take the stage after her daughter Sylvie Schindel showed an interest in acting.
“It's so neat in a small town that you could do theatre and have it not be your entire life or your profession or whatever, but you have a shot at it.”
Johnson plays Mama Bear, who becomes concerned by humans venturing further into the animals' homes and tries to rally the rest of the wildlife.
Sylvie, who plays a bluebird, said she was a little worried for her mom. "I’m scared that she might get some boos.”
Johnson isn't too worried. “I’m not the villain but me and Goldilocks are a bit in opposition to each other."
The show's youngest actor is Amos Archambault, who is six years old and plays Baby Bear. That's not much older than Sammartino was when she started acting.
Now she's in a starring role while applying for musical theatre schools, but it's not lost on her that she's surrounded by a cast who are getting their first taste of acting just as she once did.
“It’s really sweet to see very young kids coming to watch and seeing themselves in it, and being like, ‘oh yeah, this is something that I can do with my parents.’ So yeah, it is nice to foster that love for theatre with what I know about it, and also foster the love of people who haven't done theatre and who are much older as well.”
