Show Stopper

PABLO—Anya Smith was two years old when she enrolled in her first ballet classes, she was five when she auditioned for her first play, and 12 when she began her own theater company, named Glacier Lily Theater Co., and produced her first independent show.

Today, the entrepreneur and Pablo native is 14, her company is gaining support through numerous Facebook campaigns and she has successfully created a network of youth actors in the Mission Valley who come together once a year to present a play, by kids, for kids.

Later this month, Smith and her troupe are slated to produce Robin Hood at the Salish-Kootenai College theater. It will be her third independently produced play, and the largest.

“This is the first year I will get to produce my play in a real theater, the first year we will have rented costumes [from Mission Valley Christian Academy] and it is by far the most intricate play I’ve attempted,” Smith commented.

She went on to say that, despite the difficulty in choreographing numerous sword fights, archery contests and other action-packed sequences, the challenging parts are the most exciting parts of this performance.

“The reason I started was because there were a lot of shows that I wanted to do, and a lot of parts I wanted to play. Back when I was 12, they were probably pretty unrealistic, but those are slowly getting closer,” Smith said.

Smith considers Robin Hood a sort of “jumping-off point” into the world of more complicated theater. It certainly differs in complexity from last year’s Alice and Wonderland and her debut, original play, Twisted Tales.

“Robin Hood is kind of making us stretch ourselves,” said Smith. “It requires more actors and more fundraising for props and costumes. It’s usually difficult for us to find actors and funds anyway, so this is a big step. But it always comes together in the end.”

Smith’s optimism is well-supported by a family who, in time, become their own troupe of actors, costume designers and set makers.

“Since the time I wanted to audition for my first play, my mom has searched newspapers to find opportunities for me,” Smith recalled the way her family has supported her from the beginning.

Truly, Smith’s passion has become a family affair. Her younger siblings have both been recruited to join the cast of Robin Hood, her mother has been employed to help create costumes, and her father is to help with designing and building the set.

Yet, as the production hits a crescendo, Smith has her own work cut out for her. Between attending theater workshops in Bigfork, reading director’s survival guides and stage combat how-tos, and organizing the publicity for her show, she also holds rehearsals every afternoon in Boettcher park, where she directs her peers in their performances and acts alongside them. This year, she will feature as Maid Marian, the lost love of Robin Hood, who is promised to marry the evil Prince John. The role is exciting for Smith who, for the past two years, has opted to play the villain in performances rather than the damsel in distress.

“I’m excited to play this sort of role because it’s so different from other parts I’ve had. That’s one of the best parts of directing your own plays, you get to choose your own parts,” Smith laughed.

The most important aspect of these annual projects for Smith, however, is not the cool costumes or excitement of playing a leading role, it is the feeling of keeping children’s theater alive.

“I think I’d like to go to college to study theater and then come back to Montana and continue working with children. You never know what sort of talent is hiding in these small towns,” Smith commented.

She has already started towards that dream as she inspires her friends and siblings to take on the arts. It is as she constantly reminds herself and her castmates, “if there is something you want, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can make it happen.”