Thursday, 30 August 2007
Goliath effort: 'The Littlest Warrior' brings big heart to playhouse Print E-mail
JESSIE EVANS - Daily Herald   

Enter a kingdom, once peaceful, now on the brink of war and find out what happens when the kingdom's fate is entrusted to a novice and little-known warrior in "The Littlest Warrior" at the Valley Center Playhouse in Lindon.

Mike Renstrom said "The Littlest Warrior" is a story of youth being willing and ready to stand in their ancestors' shoes and fight when the need to defend freedom arises. Renstrom and his mother, Jody Renstrom, co-wrote the play. He also helped direct the show.

The main inspiration for the play came from Mike's father, Keith, who Mike said was a master gunnery sergeant in World War II and fought in Iwo Jima, Sipan and Tinian.

"We had a good time writing this," Mike Renstrom said. "[We] feel it is a cute story that entertains both the youth and the adults."

"The Littlest Warrior" incorporates a lot of ideas from history to fantasy and is geared toward families. It is designed to fill what Renstrom calls a shortage of good family-oriented productions.

"I enjoy the experience of creating characters and events using a first-person point of view," Renstrom said. "I put myself in the characters' shoes and think, 'If this happened to me how would I react?' "

One of the characters created by the Renstrom mother-son team is that of King Laslo, played by Lindon resident Randall Lund.

Lund said his character is "noble, patient and very much in love with his sweet, scatter-brained wife, who is played to perfection by a former drama teacher. He gets to show love to the family, wisdom in affairs of state and justice in punishing the guilty."

Lund and his family have been in several plays over the years. This time, it was Lund's son Alex, who plays the part of the knight Sharce, who got his dad involved in the show.

The show, Lund said, is an engaging story that will entertain the whole family.

If you go:

The Littlest Warrior

When: Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m., through Sept. 24

Where: Valley Center Playhouse, 780 N. 200 East, Lindon

Tickets: $6 for adults, $5 for students, children and seniors.

Info: 224-5301, www.vcpnews.com

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