Students at Everett Meredith Middle School will bring to life Bilbo Baggins’ quest to help obtain treasure from a dangerous dragon when the school presents their fall play “The Hobbit.”
    The play, directed by teacher Garth Stubbolo and produced by teacher Gina Robinson, will be performed Friday, Nov. 14, and Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
    Swords and helmets, elves, dwarves and goblins, hairy feet and painted skin will all be part of the production, along with a giant, red, smoking dragon.
    Stubbolo said he chose to do “The Hobbit,” which is a prequel to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, because he directed the play once before when The Children’s Theatre in Dover performed it.
    “I love the whole trilogy and had a lot of the set built,” he said. “It’s a great play. We haven’t done any dramas in the fall.”
    Robinson said the story starts when Baggins is talked into going on a quest with 13 dwarves and Gandalf, the wizard.
    “They encounter lots of different obstacles,” she said. “The climax is they encounter a dragon. We actually have a dragon in the show that’s really cool. It has smoke that comes out of it and it moves.”
    The play stars Abby Sheppard as Bilbo Baggins, Sarah Williams as Gandalf and Will Ocana as Thorin.
    “It’s really fun. Gandalf is funny and he does a lot of silly things,” Williams said. “It really is a great show. I think people will like it.”
    Ryan Nylander, who plays the part of mysterious creature Gollum, said this play is different than what the school usually does.
    “It’s fun to be in this production,” he said. “You’ve got the please the audience and you can’t get by with songs. There aren’t a lot of plays like this one. It’s going to be a pretty fun experience.”
    Robinson said this play gives the students a lot of opportunities to be featured, and students are very involved in with stage crew, lights and sound.
    “We have a much different population because we lost a lot of kids with the district changing,” she said. “I think the play brought in new talent. A lot of kids are intimidated to do a musical. This brought in kids who might not think they are the best singers, but they love to act.”
    Robinson said people who aren’t familiar with “The Lord of the Rings” will still enjoy the production.
    “It’s the beginning of the series and it introduces all the characters,” she said. “It’s a great introduction to how it all started.”
    Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults and can be bought at the door or by calling the school at 378-5001.