Malvern Middle School Theatre Society’s Shrek Jr. had some minor faults, but some major applause.
Shrek the Musical Jr, which opened on May 15 with a cast of middle school students from Malvern Prep, Villa Maria Academy, and The Academy of Notre Dame, was an overall good performance.
This show is about an abandoned ogre named Shrek who isn’t good with people. He builds a house in the swamp and grew up in solitude. One day, a bunch of characters from fairy tales were sent to live on his land by Lord Farquaad, who ruled over the Kingdom of Duloc. Shrek, angry, decides to go to Farquaad to get his land back all for himself.
Along the way to the main city, he encounters a donkey. Of course, he is named Donkey. Donkey ends up showing Shrek the way to Duloc to repay him for helping Donkey to get away from some guards. When Shrek and Farquaad meet, Farquaad says that he will get his land back if he rescues the princess from the tallest tower that was guarded by dragon. Shrek, determined to get his land back accepts the challenge.
The princess to whom they are referring is princess Fiona. She was locked in the tower ever since she was seven, awaiting the arrival of a prince who would take her for his bride. She is very surprised when Shrek comes and sees that he is an ogre. Before he takes her back to Farquaad, they get to know each other and they realize that they love each other. But they are very different people. They have an argument about love just before Farquaad comes to retrieve his wife.
This show sends a very good message. You should not love someone because of who they are physically and what they look like. You should love someone because of who they are as a person. This message is one that everyone could probably benefit from.
In terms of casting, the characters were ideal. Jacob Springer was the perfect candidate to play Shrek, and Molly Sorensen did a fantastic job as Fiona.
All in all, it was a good solid performance with the perfect message. There we few minor faults, and the singing could have been louder, but the message was so good that flaws can be ignored.
