INTO THE WOODS: CAST INTERVIEW

The Raha theatre department has taken on possibly their most ambitious project to date with their new musical “Into the Woods”, based on the 2014 Disney movie. Starring students from grades 9 to 12, the musical can be seen on the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th of February. This show will feature all of the classic characters from our childhoods ranging from Rapunzel to Jack and the Beanstalk to Cinderella but, with a twist as each of these different characters’ lives will come to intertwine. Excitement about the play has been brewing since the beginning of the year with so many students wanting to participate that two separate casts had to be formed with students from both the Raha Gardens and Khalifa City campuses working together on the performance! The show has a separate department for the props, where the team has been working hard for months to create enormous puppet renditions of the Big Bad Wolf, Jack’s cow, and various other costume props. With such an amazing student and staff team working behind the scenes and talented student actors bringing the team’s visions to life, the show is sure to be unforgettable for the Raha community!

Here is an interview with Zarah Abraham, playing the female lead role of the Baker’s wife in Into the Woods:

What is your favourite scene in the play?

One of my favourite scenes in the play has to be the ending, although I won't spoil, it’s a very interesting and I would say unexpected conclusion for the play, but it teaches a valuable and, I would say unique lesson, that would normally not be found in many fairy tales.

What is your favourite scene that you are in?

I would say maybe the song, "It Takes Two" that I sing with the Baker Honestly, it is one of the cutest scenes in the play and shows just how far the characters developed through their journey

What advice would you give to students in younger grades wanting to get into theatre?

Stay committed. Theatre is a very emotionally and sometimes physically exhausting form of art, and can be very disappointing at times, but if you really do have a passion in theatre, keep going. Its great in helping with confidence, creativity and passion towards the subject.

What sort of person is going to love this show?

Almost everyone. This show is very unique in the fact that it would appeal to both adults and children through its base stories of fairy tales with a unique but quite mature twist to it. Its a very universal plot especially for parents and children about achieving wishes and dreams. So yeah, pretty much everybody will enjoy this show in particular

What’s the hardest part about playing the Baker’s Wife?

I had originally auditioned for Baker's Wife, since I really loved her songs, but as I got the role and learned more about her character, I realized how complex and three dimensional she was as a character. She has very unique reactions and is a very complicated person- to play her just as she is (messy, creative, headstrong) will be quite a tough job for me, especially when her actions sometimes wouldn't reflect my own.

T R Y N A M I N G O N E R E A S O N T O S T O P C E L E B R A T I N G L O V E .

It doesn’t need to be the 14th of February for you to show your love for someone, but should we celebrate Valentine's Day anyway? I would argue –yes! It is an opportunity for everyone to largely strengthen their bond with their significant other, or even with their friends who they may love as much There isn’t much argument floating around against the act of celebrating love itself, but nowadays, out of all the corporate, commercialized-to-death holidays that exist, many people seem to have a gripe with one holiday specifically - Valentine’s Day.

Many people who make the argument of “It’s such a corporate holiday!” seem to forget about the freedom of the holiday. Sure, you can treat Valentine’s Day as an obligation to shower your significant other with teddy bears and heartshaped boxes of chocolate - or you can realize that it is your life, your relationship, and you can literally do whatever you want to do People seem to take this holiday so seriously, when in fact Valentine’s Day is just an excuse to spend more time with the ones you love. If both you and your loved one couldn't care less about teddy bears and chocolate, then you don’t have to spend a single dime on either of those things. You can even spend the whole day on the couch together, paying for nothing more than a few snacks Even better, you are completely free to go to those corny “Anti-Valentine’s Day” parties, because no matter how much you object, you are still, in a way, celebrating Valentine’s Day I hate to break it to you, but if your loved one absolutely demands that you shower them with overpriced, personalized, traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, that may be more of a them issue, rather than a Saint Valentine one

To continue, the argument of “It’s just another excuse for people to rub their relationships in your face” is even weaker and whinier than the previous. This argument screams to others, “I get insecure when I see happy couples” It is natural for someone to get a bit hurt themselves when they see someone that is seemingly happier than them, or with something that they do not have, but the belief that couples have relationships as an attack on others is a narcissistic, self-centered belief If it makes you feel better, there are probably over a billion people who currently do not have a significant other to celebrate February 14th with, and if seeing a happy couple in public is that much offensive to you, then you can take up the shockingly easy task of staying home for one day, before returning to civilization on the 15th

We need to lower our expectations for ourselves. You don’t need to beat yourself up over the fact that you may not have a significant other while others do. After all, the day being one to celebrate love doesn’t change the fact that you did not have a significant other the previous day Eat a box of chocolate all by yourself, go bowling with some friends, sit on the couch all day watching whatever show makes you happy, even if it is barely related to love and romance You deserve to be happy, and you reserve the right to celebrate the day however you want, no matter what Hallmark Inc. says.

TL;DR: You can celebrate February 14th however you want, you don’t need to buy into the commercialism aspect of things. You aren’t expected to celebrate it, and you don’t need a significant other to celebrate it.

N O P E , V A L E N T I N E ’ S D A Y S U C K S .

What used to be a day of celebration and showing affection to loved ones, is now a commercialized way to show to others just how much money you can spend on a person to show how perfect your relationship is With over 6 million couples getting married on the day and having been voted the best day of the year to propose, Valentine’s Day has staked its name as the day of love almost all across the globe However, with mass commercialization there is almost always a great level of injustice in the way things get produced and distributed. Tons of candy grams and flowers and balloons and who knows what else, made only for Valentine’s day, then afterwards discarded and thrown into landmasses only to be joined by the other Valentine’s day items from the years before With bouquets of flowers to overpriced chocolates this holiday has strayed from what its original goal was: to show your loved ones how much they mean to you through sincerity and genuinely spend time with them

Let’s be honest here, if a single day is the only day you buy people flowers, you’ve definitely copped out on the best partner award The issue with Valentine’s Day is that it gives people the option to fix all their issues with a box of chocolates and a couple roses. Real relationships require consistent work, time and effort for people to grow connections When there is a whole day dedicated to expressing affection for people, we are less likely to spend the time we need with each other on the days where it isn’t for show And of course, there are people that choose to spend it alone, in their own personalized way, but they are a dime in a dozen and too many have fallen into the trap where spending extravagantly is the only way to show true love to one another

Furthermore, with so much being produced on February 14th, one has to question, where does this all come from, and where does it all go. In the United States alone, where the day is celebrated the most, almost 250 million roses are grown just for Valentine’s Day Since roses and other flowers like it require certain conditions to grow, in places like Columbia, Ecuador and Kenya, these roses are grown in preparation and then shipped all the way to the U S (OC Wholesale Flowers, 2023). The number of cards being exchanged annually being around 114 million and just over 36 million heartshaped boxes of chocolate as well (CSS Marketing Team), sold specifically on the day, there is a serious cause for concern environmentally when it comes to disposal of the exorbitant amount of plastic, bottles, printed cards and waste in general that collects during the production and consumption of the special day items.

In the end, Valentine’s day has lost its sincerity as a tradition, with the whole concept of spending money on loved ones being tainted by greed, competition and unhealthy expectations On a day made for genuine love towards the people you care about, feeling pressure to do “normal” things changes the day to one of anxiety and immense feelings of shame and guilt Furthermore, with how bad this specific day is for the environment, we need to question the use for it all together Is this the only day where you are allowed to show affection to one another? Not really Is buying 14 cards in a day then throwing it away the next really necessary? Not really Do we need Valentine’s Day? Not really

TL;DR: With detrimental effects to relationships and global warming, we should reconsider how important Valentine’s Day truly is.