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CHICO Four playwrights, four directors and 12 ac- tors will produce four brand new plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 19-28 at Chi- co's Blue Room Theatre. All tickets are $10, there will be no pay-what-you- can on Thursday for this production. The plays were writ- ten by Bryce Corron, Jen- nifer Foreman, Alexandra Hilsee and Evin Wolver- ton and directed by Mar- tin Chavira, Joe Hilsee, Ju- lia Rauter and Erika Soe- rensen. See the creative process at its fastest and most fu- rious. The four plays took one week to write and one week to rehearse. BLUE ROOM 'FreshInk'opensthisweekend COURTESYPHOTO Thisyear'sPlayinMayputonbyWhittenbergCountrySchoolwillbe"TheHobbit," scheduled for7 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at the Westside Grange on Walnut Street in Red Bluff, with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $1 and will be available at the door.Pictured are some of the students in costume for the Round-Up parade. THEATER SCHOOL TO PERFORM 'THE HOBBIT' THIS THURSDAY REDDING Recognizing that human trafficking is the fastest growing industry in the country, several North State entities are encour- aging and supporting the community to take action. The film "Nefarious: Mer- chant of Souls" takes a close look at modern-day human trafficking and the Cascade Theatre in Redding will host an evening of conver- sation, awareness and local thoughts from a panel in- cluding Redding's Chief of Police, the film's producer, a human trafficking survi- vor, the Northern California Anti-Trafficking Coalition and medical professionals. The screening is sched- uled for 7 p.m. Wednes- day, May 25 at the Cascade, 1731 Market St. in Redding. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the panel discussion will follow the film. There will be a VIP party including pre-film net- working, wine and hors d'oeuvres at Market Street Steak House. The event is sponsored and being co- hosted by Dignity Health, the Northern California Anti-Trafficking Coalition, the McConnell Foundation, Moseley Family Cellars and the Record Searchlight. Visit www.cascadethe- atre.org to purchase tick- ets online or call 243-8877. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $50 for VIP. The event is a fundraiser for Mercy Foundation North and One Safe Place. FUNDRAISER Fi lm e xa mi ne s mo de rn h um an t ra ffi ck in g in du st ry Red Bluff's State Theatre will present the fascinating, classic rock documentary "Janis, Little Girl Blue" and directly after Big Brother & The Holding Company will perform all of their classic hits June 25. Musician Cat Power nar- rates the documentary on Janis Joplin's evolution into a star from letters that Jop- lin wrote over the years to her friends, family and col- laborators. Archival foot- age and interviews high- light the life and career of singer-songwriter, from her musical rise in the 1960s to her battle with alcohol and heroin addiction. Directed by Amy Berg, the trailer is available at http://www.janismovie. com/trailer. Big Brother & The Hold- ing Company are primarily remembered as the group that gave Janis Joplin her start. There's no denying both that Joplin was by far the band's most striking asset, and that Big Brother would never have made a significant impression if they hadn't been fortunate enough to add her to their lineup shortly after form- ing. But Big Brother also oc- cupies a significant place in the history of San Fran- cisco psychedelic rock, as one of the bands that best captured the era's loosest, most reckless and indulgent qualities in its high-energy mutations of blues and folk- rock. Today, the band is com- prised of original members Dave Getz and Peter Al- bin, accompanied by Tom Finch, Tommy Odetto and Darby Gould. For more in- formation, visit http://www. bbhc.com. The concert will begin shortly after the finish of the film, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 25 at the State Theatre, 333 Oak St. in Red Bluff. Tickets are $25-30 and available at Tehama Coun- try Visitor Center, 250 An- telope Blvd. in Red Bluff or online at www.statethe- atreredbluff.com. STATE THEATRE Big Brother & The Holding Company By Verda Mackay Correspondent That lovable ogre, Shrek, lumbers on the Laxson Au- ditorium stage at 7:30 p.m. May 27 through the part- nership of the Playhouse Youth Theatre and Chico Performances. A delight for the whole family, this 50-minute mu- sical, based on the beloved DreamWorks film charac- ter, will charm everyone. The cast of 20 children, ages 6 to 15, is directed by Lisa Schmidt, founder of the Playhouse Youth The- atre. She is assisted by Thomas Billheimer II, with music director Kaila David- son. Choreographers are Schmidt and Davidson. "Shrek the Musical" opened on Broadway in 2008. With music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lind- say-Abaire, it is also a well- known Disney film. Thecurtainopensonsto- rytellers (Savannah Cress- well and Trinity Estabrook) sharing the tale of a little ogre named Shrek. His par- ents tell the young fellow it is time for him to make his own place in the world and he must leave home. Years pass and Shrek (Annika Edstrom) becomes grown up and is content liv- ing alone in a swamp on the edge of the Duloc. His solitude is inter- rupted when a large group of fairy tale creatures show up on his doorstep. They have been exiled from the kingdom and banished to live in the swamp. Shrek finds his once-pri- vate swamp teeming with the new inhabitants and angrily sets off to confront the leader of Duloc, Lord Farquaad (Kendall Staf- ford) and try to regain his privacy. Along the way, he rescues a talkative Don- key (Jana St. Cin) who in- sists on tagging along as Shrek's buddy. Lord Far- quaad tortures Gingy the gingerman (Kyla Campbell) into revealing the location of the princess he wishes to marry to become king. The princess, Fiona (Mazie Langan), has been kept in a tower for years waiting for her prince to come and save her. Shrek rescues her and drags her off by force, spoil- ing her romantic visions of rescue. Most people known the rest of the story and how they all live happily ever after. It gives an inspiring message, "I'm a Believer," and wishes come true. The children worked hard to master the 18 songs in the show. Songs in- clude "Big Bright Beautiful World," "Donkey Pot Pie" and "This is How a Dream Comes True." "On Laxson's big stage, we need to fill the area with movement to keep the mu- sical interesting and mov- ing along," Schmidt ex- plained. "Our kids are learning to sing, create har- mony, do movement and fo- cus. This helps them find confidence. If they can per- form on stage in front of a large audience, they can do anything." Others in the large cast include: Sophia Taylor (teenage Fiona), Isis Esta- brook (Dragon) and Ryan Livernois (Pinocchio). Other cast members are: Abby Hanford (Peter Pan), Alejandro Rodrigue (Puss inBoots),AvaHilsee(Mama Bear), Elliott Browne (Ugly Duckling), Halle Miller (Wicked Witch), Kortney Stafford (Big Bad Wolf), Lo- gan Browne (Pig 1, 2, 3), Na- than Clickner (Guard Cap- tain), Rylie Smith (Baby Bear) and Thomas Bill- heimer (Bishop). On May 27, in addition to the evening performance, two Chico Performances Field Trips for schools are scheduled the same day. Tickets for the evening show are $15 adult, $13 se- nior, $8 youth. Purchase online www.chicoperfor- mances.com or at the Uni- versity Box Office on the corner of Third and Chest- nut Streets. For more information and tickets, call Chico Per- formances at 898-6333. THEATER CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Chico favorite "Shrek the Musical Jr." shows at Laxson Auditorium, 7:30p.m., May 27. Favorite ogre musical ma ke s wi sh es c om e tr ue Big Brother & The Holding Company to perform a er rock documentary IT only T A K E S A S P A R K . O N L Y Y O U C A N P R E V E N T W I L D F I R E S . s m o k e y b e a r . c o m Please T E C O N E & B E L D I N G 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant A+E ยป redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, May 19, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5