PDN Article: August
31, 2013
Children's fairy tales offer us opportunities
for teaching and learning values, morals and life skills in pleasant and
natural ways, and when delivered through a musical performance, tend to have an
enjoyable and resonating effect.
This is what we hope "Fidgety Fairy
Tales" will have for those who attend this upcoming musical production,
made possible through funds from the Guam Council of Arts and Humanities
Agency, Youth Enhancement Support Inc. and grant funds of Guam Behavioral
Health and Wellness Center for I Famagu'on-ta, Child Adolescent Services
Division, and donations from the community to offset the cost. The play is also
co-produced by Greenlight Media Production, under the esteemed director, Ernest
Ochoco.
The fairy tales that will be musically performed
are; "Hansel and Gretel," "The Princess and the Pea" and
"The Frog Prince." Each story contains positive messages and
portrayals of children with mental health conditions and some of the common
symptoms of the conditions, as well as appropriate ways to manage the
conditions.
The "Fidgety Fairy Tales" musical
will be performed by a delightful cast of talented young people and community
members, both with and without mental health challenges. In addition, the
audience will get to enjoy a pre-show performance by some of the cast on
selected musicals from Disney classics.
The cast has been rehearsing for two long
months, with much dedication and commitment in showing up in the evenings and
working harmoniously, learning from each other. Some of the young people even
bring their homework to work on while waiting for the rehearsals to begin.
Goal is awareness
Public awareness and social marketing is the
goal of this project, to help the public learn more about children's mental
health with the goal of embracing children with mental health issues, so that
the associated stigma will be reduced. Children and adults with mental health
challenges would be more open to receiving treatment and services for their
conditions, as they would with most health conditions, if not made to feel
shamed or blamed.
"Fidgety Fairy Tales" was written
for the Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health by Matt Jensen and
Mayra Hart of Minnesota. The plays have been performed in the states of
Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, at a conference in Washington D.C., and, of
course, our territory of Guam. Each location produced the play slightly
differently, adding its own unique versions.
For those who attended Guam's first
"Fidgety Fairy Tales" back in 2009, the fairy tale stories were;
"Little Red Riding Hood," "The Handsome Prince" and
"Rapunzel." It was very well-received by our local community and all
age groups. It will be a hit again.
"Fidgety Fairy Tales" will be held
at the Guam Hilton Resort & Spa, Micronesian Ballroom from Sept. 6-8. You
can purchase tickets at Bestseller Bookstore at GPO or the Micronesia Mall,
Faith Bookstore, Carmen's Cha-Cha-Cha, and at the I Famagu'on-ta office in
Hagåtña.
Annie F.B. Unpingco,
LCSW, is administrator of I Famagu'on-ta at the Guam Behavioral Health and
Wellness Center.
