For the third year in a row, Figures of Speech Director of Education Ian Bannon lead The FOSSE (Figures of Speech Student Ensemble), an after-school program with Freeport High School students who want to create innovative theater together.

In 2008, The FOSSE interpreted the Greek myth Perseus the Gorgon Slayer, and in 2009 they reimagined scenes from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. This time around they used puppets, masks, actors and original music to stage an imaginative version of Hans Christian Andersen's classic, The Snow Queen.

Figures of Speech Co-Director Carol Farrell stated, "This year we were looking for material with a strong story line and a wide variety of characters. The Snow Queen has goblins, ravens, a strong friendship between a young girl and boy, talking flowers, a wild band of Robber Maidens, and of course the iconic Queen of Snow. It gives the ensemble members a lot to work with, and some wonderful creativity has emerged as a result."

Ian worked closely with the students three afternoons a week. In explaining the project's goal to foster collaboration between top-quality professional artists and aspiring young people, Ian said, "This year, we realized we had some very motivated student musicians, so we brought in Dan Capaldi and Jeff Shaw from the Maine Academy of Modern Music to lead students in the composition of an original score for the piece, which has been great. It really rocks! They've also had productive workshops with vocalist Andrea Goodman and mask performer Beverly Mann. We see students stretching in ways they never thought possible."

Sarah, a returning FOSSE member, summed up her experience better than we could! "I think working with The FOSSE did affect the way that I interact with my peers at (Freeport High School). I think that it gave me more confidence in myself. It also taught me to share my ideas, even if they might not be agreed with among everyone. Finally, it taught me that it's okay to try different things even though I may make a fool out of myself."

We look forward to making more great theater — and even greater fools of ourselves — in the future!

'The Snow Queen' was made possible in part by funding from the Maine Arts Commission and the Freeport Performing Arts Boosters.