Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The Imaginary Theatre Company finished its play series Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Poplar Bluff Schools with a performance of “A Thousand Cranes” for fifth graders in the Tinnin Fine Arts Center, underwritten by the Bank of Missouri.

Imaginary, the professional touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, previously performed “My Father’s Dragon” for Eugene Field and “A Gnome for Christmas” for Oak Grove. Last year they put on plays at the Kindergarten Center, Lake Road and Junior High. Tinnin Director Tim Thompson and R-I Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Patty Robertson will continue planning the rotation next year.

“A Thousand Cranes” by Kathryn Schultz is about a Japanese girl who was diagnosed with Leukemia a decade after being exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima during World War II. According to an Eastern legend, if a person folds 1,000 paper cranes, s/he will be cured of disease. The girl – Sadako Sasaki, made it to No. 644, and now has a monument built in her honor at Seattle Peace Park.

The plays were brought to the district as part of Three Rivers College’s Patrons of the Arts series. Beginning in the 2015/16 school year, the community college opted to deliver the plays directly to the schools within its service area, free of cost.

Shown in the photo: Actors (standing from left) Jeanitta Perkins, Aaron Orion Baker, Charlie Barron and Catherine Regan (seated) of the Imaginary Theatre Company pose after holding a Q&A with students about the play, “A Thousand Cranes.”

Photo and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District