From the moment Arista Neave read the script of Alec Strum's "Big Bad," she wanted the character of Little Red Riding Hood.
Neave will appear in this role alongside 15 of her peers when the Aiken Community Playhouse Youth Wing presents its Garden Theatre production of "Big Bad."
"'Big Bad' provides actors and audiences of any age with a smart and wickedly funny play that lets the audience determine the outcome of the play," according to the play's description. "The most notorious criminal in the fairy tale world, Big Bad Wolf, is being slapped with a class-action lawsuit by the countless quirky characters he has wronged. Now, the two greatest legal minds in the Enchanted Forest - the Evil Stepmother and the Fairy Godmother - will clash (on live Court TV, no less, with Sydney Grimm as commentator), in a trial that will be remembered forever after."
Neave said playing her part has "been a challenge, and it's really fun to do."
The play will be at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Aiken County Public Library, 314 Chesterfield St. S.W.; 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hopelands Gardens, 135 Dupree Place; and 3 p.m. Friday at the Nancy Carson Library, 135 Edgefield Road, North Augusta.
All performances are free.
For more information, call the Aiken Community Playhouse at 803-648-1438; Aiken County Public Library at 803-642-2020; H. Odell Weeks Activities Center at 803-642-7631; or Nancy Carson Library at 803-279-5767.
Stephanie Turner graduated from Valdosta State University in 2012. She then signed on with the Aiken Standard, where she is now the arts and entertainment reporter.