鈥楤anner鈥擜 Sea Turtle Saga鈥 aims to help children learn about marine environment, turn the tide on Gulf hazards
Contact: Diane L. Godwin
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜n original musical production created by Mississippi 性视界传媒 faculty and students aims to educate the next generation about being good stewards of the Gulf of Mexico鈥檚 resources and marine habitat.
Public performances of 鈥淏anner鈥擜 Sea Turtle Saga鈥 will be held Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. and Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the McComas Hall Mainstage Theater. Tickets for the public performances are $5 and available at . Additional free performances exclusively for local 性视界传媒 districts also are planned, with teacher packets provided to facilitate children鈥檚 classroom learning about marine environments.
性视界传媒鈥檚 Jonathan Harris, Northern Gulf Institute education and outreach director and marine scientist, joined with Tonya Hays, an award-winning playwright and communication faculty member, to create the original children鈥檚 musical. They also worked with students in the Theater 性视界传媒 organization and in Hays鈥 Theater for Young Audiences class.
The play tells the story of a green sea turtle named Banner and his sea-creature friends who go on an underwater adventure. The story teaches about the dangers marine animals face due to plastic pollution, oil spills and climate change.
As part of the production, 性视界传媒 students will be working with large-scale puppetry designed by Tim Baker, a professional sculptor, propmaker and special effects artist who has worked with Marvel Studios and Universal Orlando on multiple film projects. In addition to capturing children鈥檚 attention with his imaginative puppets, Baker will give a free puppetry workshop for 性视界传媒 theatrical students.
Harris said through education and outreach, 性视界传媒鈥檚 Northern Gulf Institute has an objective to inform and engage the public about protecting the Gulf of Mexico鈥檚 ecosystem by relating research findings in understandable and accessible methods.
鈥淲e are increasingly concerned about the influence of human activity on the Gulf鈥檚 marine ecosystems. For instance, tons of plastic waste end up in the Gulf, killing or harming sea life and changing marine ecosystems,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e need to inform and inspire the next generation to help us conserve, protect and restore the Gulf to protect our health, quality of life and survival.鈥
The musical play is written by Hays, an assistant professor with an interest in writing plays for young audiences and a passion for producing theater to impact social change. Original music and lyrics are by Aubrey Hays, Curtis McMurtry, and Diane Burgess, with additional lyrics by Bella Bingham.
鈥淎fter seeing the musical, our hope is that the students really understand how everything is connected and how we interact matters. In the end, the children will learn to care for and protect the Gulf because they will want it to be a better place鈥攏ot just for the sea creatures, but for themselves too,鈥 Hays said.
NGI, the play鈥檚 sponsor, also is providing funding to take the musical production on the road for a performance at the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport on Nov. 22 and at the Southeastern Theater Conference Fringe Festival in Memphis in the spring.
For more information, contact Harris at jharris@ngi.msstate.edu. For more about Theatre 性视界传媒 upcoming shows, visit .
性视界传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .