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PAGE Pat Arbuckle Chronicle Staff _ Students at Rockway Mennonite School in Kitchener are taking the learning of French out of the classroom and onto the stage. _ A group of grade 9 to 12 students at the school are planning a tour â€"of 11 elementary and secondary schools in Waterloo County to perâ€" form the popular French allegorical tale The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) in its original French for students in the area. The first performance will take place Friday, April 29, 7: 30 p.m. at Rockway School. "It‘s the first time anything of such a large scale has been attempted. It is freeing French from a classroom situation,"" explained Helene Carty, a French teacher at the school who coâ€"directed the play with fellow teacher Dennis Wikerd. â€" _ Carty came up with the idea of performing the play last fall to provide her students with an outlet, a way to put the French they were learning in the classroom to practical use. The decision to tour area schools was made, she explained, to give the students further incentive to do the play. . â€" _ Incredible effort by Rockway students in The Little Prince We tried to find them a francophone public or people who understand French," she said. ‘"You must find them people that are capable and willing to listen to them." The Little Prince, written in 1943 by French author Antoine de Saintâ€"Exupéry, is described by Carty as a critique of our society. The author, a pilot during World War II who had become disillusioned by the war, wrote The Little Prince "to restore faith in humankind through commitâ€" ment and friendship," Carty explained. The story focuses on a young prince, a native of a distant planet called Astroid B612, who learns the value of friendship and the imporâ€" tance of commitment and responsibility on an interplanetary journey. (;a;igéh;)sé The Little Prince even though much of the original story had to be written in dialogue form because it is widely know to O e \jstâ€"® 16 â€" WaATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27. 1983 itchenerâ€"Waterloo Symphony Orchestra 1983â€"84 Season ~ and 2 Masterpiece Sunday afternoon concerts, + sharing with you amusing anecdotes and fascinating | m p insights into music. Informal general admission seating. MB A French and Englishâ€"speaking audiences, both children and adults. â€" â€" Performing a play in French can create a special set of problems for its Englishâ€"speaking cast. Carty estimated that the amount of work involved for the students in learning their parts was about five times as great as if they were performing the play in English. Cast members began learning their lines in December. “‘?'-l-‘i;évl;i:io; problem is that the actors are totally dependent on the lines. They can‘t ad lib. They have to stick to what they know," she said. ‘ A further concern was that, because the play will be moving from school to school, the cast had to be limited in size and the sets kept simple. As a result, most of the cast members have at least two parts to play. The background scenery will be created by slides projected on a threeâ€"way screen. Many of the fantasy scenes were drawn by students at the school. "It will create a whole panorama," said Carty, "and the students will play around it." Carty stressed that all work on the play has been done in the students‘ spare time, not in class. She also emphasized that students chosen for roles may not necessarily be the school‘s best French students but that in no way has diminished their effort or enthusiasm. “Thgn‘r‘(:r;d‘ll;lé effort they have put into the play is something to be very proud of," she said. Lead roles will be played by Kris Jantzi as the Little Prince and Carole McMillan as the pilot. Also taking part in the production are Anthony Dyck, Dave Stobbe, Peter Allemang, Emily Weber, Gretta Unger, Ann Shultz, Paul St. Marie and Marcia Jantzen. Friday‘s performance of the Little Prince is open to the general public. Admission is free although donations will be gratefully accepted to cover the cost of costumes and transportation. The tour of area school will take place in May and early June. School locations are yet to be announced. Subscribe Now Toll Free in 519 Area Code 1â€"800â€"265â€"8977 Or write: Kitchenerâ€" Waterloo Symphony Orchestra 101 Queen Street North, Kitchener N2H 6P? cribe ] $ cribe Now AF Fqrered Call 578â€"1570 Emily Weber (left) as the snake and Kris Jantzi in the role of the prince in Rockway Mennonite School‘s production of The Little Prince. Pat Arbuckle photo Mon.â€"Fri. 11:30â€"2 p.m. Soup and Sandwich . . .. 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