Students at 91原创 Fine Arts School are preparing to put on a modern retelling of the Brothers Grimms鈥� Cinderella story with the upcoming production of The Ash Girl starting Tuesday, March 5.

The production follows the story of the Ash Girl, who must battle her inner sadness and negativity in order to find her inner hope and self confidence.

Characters Fairy and Sadness represent Ash Girl鈥檚 inner turmoil, and the two must battle to win over the Ash Girl while she fights the seven deadly sins in the forest.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a twisted tale. It has a darker side,鈥� explained Lindsay Mitchell, 91原创 Fine Arts teacher and director.

鈥淚t does have a good message. We want everyone to find their inner voice and find true happiness. But it also allows for some great physicality for a lot of the characters. It pulls on a classic tale everybody knows. We鈥檝e all heard the story of Cinderella, but this version tells it in a fresh and interesting way.鈥�

In order to allow more students to have a chance to play various roles, many characters are double cast.

Since 91原创 Fine Arts school teaches elementary and secondary students, some of the cast members have been involved in theatre for many years like Grade 12 student Erica Zwissler who plays the Fairy character.

Zwissler said she enjoys the role because she relates to the character off stage.

鈥淥ne of my best friends is the lead [Ash Girl], so I get to be the happiness in her. When she gets down, I uplift her in real life, so it鈥檚 really cool doing it on stage differently and I feel like we have that connection.鈥�

Zwissler鈥檚 been in theatre for 10 years, and said she鈥檚 鈥渟o comfortable with everyone,鈥� and called the school her 鈥渙ther home.鈥�

Jalynne Barnes, Grade 12, also plays the role of Fairy.

Barnes added it鈥檚 an important show for other high school students to see because many of the scenes 鈥渉it home.鈥�

鈥淵ou get to be this magical person who brings light. There鈥檚 moments where the sins cower away from you, and it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e pushing away the darkness, and it really translates to real life, because you鈥檙e like 鈥榳ow I really can have the power to push away the bad stuff.鈥欌��

Barnes moved to 91原创 from the United States almost two years ago, and said the other theatre students have welcomed her like a family member.

鈥淭his school has been so inviting and welcoming. They鈥檝e made me feel like they鈥檝e chosen me to be part of their family,鈥� she added.

Grade 12 student Kaitlyn Zarin moved to 91原创 last year from Cloverdale, as she wanted to focus more on arts education.

鈥淚 love it here so much. The environment is so much different than other public schools, because everyone鈥檚 willing and committed,鈥� she explained.

Zarin plays the character Sadness, and said it鈥檚 very different than her true personality.

鈥淚 basically play Ash Girl鈥檚 mental state. I linger around and follow her and play the heaviness and dark side of her mental state. It鈥檚 very opposite of who I am as a person because I鈥檓 very outgoing. It鈥檚 fun to get to play the opposite, it鈥檚 like playing dress-up.鈥�

According to Zarin, some of the challenges are to 鈥渞eally commit to being dark.鈥�

Grade 12 student Duncan Ryans also plays Sadness, and added the character is 鈥渃omplex.鈥�

鈥淪adness is a really interesting character going in because from the outside it seems like you鈥檙e just depression and you鈥檙e this nasty character, but it was cool finding sudden niches about the character and discovering what the motivation for him is,鈥� Ryans elaborated.

The Ash Girl runs from March 5-9 at the 91原创 Fine Art school鈥檚 Chief Sepass Theatre at 9096 Trattle St.

Tickets and show times can be found online: