“Once Upon a Time, on a lovely little island, at a lovely little school, there were lovely little students who loved reading books and listening to stories…”
If a tale was to be written about our annual evening of Bedtime Stories, that would be a fitting opening line. The sun had begun to set and just the right amount of breeze was blowing, as dozens of children streamed back to school at 5:30 in the evening, wearing their pajamas, clutching their teddy bears and excitedly awaiting the hour of stories that lay ahead.
With everyone gathered cozily in front of the stage, community resident Bernard Young started things off with a captivating Bahamian folk tale that mesmerized and entertained both children and parents. This was followed by Cultural Director, David Bowen’s entertaining rendition of ‘The potato, the egg and the cocoa bean’ and Mrs Shara’s comical 5 minute retellings of ‘Snow White’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’, assisted by three theatrical Provo Primary alums and three Year 5 acting volunteers.
Students then split off into separate classrooms, lit by candles, torches or fairy lights to hear funny, spooky, heart-warming and classic tales…or, in one case, to actually participate in the retelling of “the greatest story ever told” (according to Mr Toby) – Romeo and Juliet. Sadly, many student-actors were dead by the end of the tale, but still seemed to enjoy the milk and cookies that wrapped up the evening as much as their friends who had not suffered the same fate.
Thanks so much to all the storytellers who did such a wonderful job, to Chef Alex for the delicious home-made cookies provided together with a glass of milk by our generous PTA and to all the students and parents who came, listened, laughed and made it a lovely little evening, indeed.
