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The 13th annual Ogre Awards on March 26 were a typically fantastical affair, featuring Harker’s entire Gr. 2 class portraying characters and creatures from the folklore of cultures worldwide which students spent the year exploring with library director Enid Davis.
Before the show got underway, MS librarian Bernie Morrissey and US librarian Susan Smith warmed up the crowd by singing “In Your Folk Attire,” a parody of the Irving Berlin song “Easter Parade,” one of many songs reenvisioned by Ogre Awards director Davis.
Other faculty guest appearances included a singing cameo by Laura Lang-Ree, K-Gr. 12 per forming arts chair; Brian Larsen, K-Gr. 12 production manager, appearing as the giant from “Jack and the Beanstalk”; and LS Spanish and creative writing teacher Anita Gilbert singing “Life is Just a Bowl of Porridge.”
This year’s story relayed the plight of three princes, each in search of a wife. They discover their mates by firing an arrow from the castle and traveling to the location wherein it landed. The first two princes have no problem finding the ideal partner, but the third arrow happens upon a swamp, where the final prince finds a frog waiting for him.
Each of the potential wives is charged with three special tasks to impress the royal family, and the pure-hearted third prince allows the frog to carry them out. To his delight, the frog is more than able to meet his family’s expectations, and upon deciding to keep the frog as his wife, she magically transforms into a beautiful princess.
After the play, the year’s awards were eagerly handed out to characters hailing from various folk tales. The favorite was the Russian folktale “Czar Ivanovich and Grey Wolf.” Grey Wolf accepted the award on behalf of this story.
This year’s Special Ogre Award was presented to Head of School Chris Nikoloff in recognition of his support of the K-Gr. 12 library program.