The Stinky Cheese Man

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales was performed last weekend by Hastings High School’s drama club. Although it would most likely never make it on to the Broadway stage, it was definitely a hit in the community.
The description of the play, given by the publisher, is “Though the characters may be familiar, each of your favorite storybook fables is uproariously derailed in this adaptation of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s quintessential children’s book of fractured fairy tales.”
The show definitely lived up to this description. The show displayed cherished childhood stories, twisted into humorous adaptations.
For example, The Little Ugly Duckling is a classic story of an ugly duck who was always picked on because of its looks and grew up to be a beautiful swan.
In the performance given by the theater department, the ugly duckling was no swan, just a very ugly duckling, who grew up to be a very ugly duck.
Director of the play and head of the theater department at HHS, Katie. Funkey, said “My favorite part was the audience’s reaction. They were a very active audience so lots of laughing, and lots of clapping, and just watching the audience having a really good time, with everything we’ve been working on for so long. It was super fun.”
Before the performance, HHS junior and the Stinky Cheese Man himself, Osvaldo Diaz, said, “This show excites me a lot because this show is mostly targeted for kids and we have some jokes that would make kids and even adults laugh, and that just makes me smile backstage.”
After seeing the show, HHS sophomore and Sunday audience member Isabel Shafer said, “I got a really good vibe from it all. I originally went to take pictures for yearbook, and ended up really enjoying.”
On Thursday night, the elementary schools had the chance of having a first look at the play, as it was aimed mainly towards children.
There were many ways that they involved the kids in the crowd. This included dedicating the performance to “Melvin,” inviting them to have a line in the play, and the play was entirely children’s stories that were adapted, not adult’s.
Many students sent letters back to the cast members to thank them and in many cases tell them their favorite characters or part of the play.
As for what’s next, “We all celebrate by taking a well deserved nap (if our schedules allow)!” Funky said. A reasonable way to celebrate their hard work. This is of course after the famous cast parties, and striking down of the stage.
Overall, this play turned out to be a hit within the cast, crew, and audience in general.