500 WORDS
by Jamie Norris
Produced by Green Thumb Theatre
For Grades K & Up
Spring 2025 Tour
Directed by: Jamie King
FEATURING:
Lance Ethan De Hoog
Sylvia Sewit Eden Haile
Samantha Pawliuk Stage Manager
Sophie Tang Set Design
Alaia Hamer Costume Design
Matt MacDonald-Bain Sound Design
Kimira Reddy Props Designer
Liam Kearns Blackboard Illustrator
The Story:
Lance is the smartest kid in grade six who never misses an opportunity to show off his vocabulary. His teacher assigns him a reading buddy, Sylvia, who is a daydreamer but now that she’s in grade three is finding it harder to hide that she never really learned how to read. All Lance wants to do when they are together is write for the story contest, not help Sylvia. But Lance can’t think of a story until Sylvia imagines a whole world for him of magic, heroes and adventure. Learning together the unlikely pair create a magical story neither could have on their own. In the end, Sylvia loses her fear of reading and Lance learns that the biggest word is not always the smartest word and that you really can’t judge a person without knowing them.
500 WORDS will capture everyone’s imaginations as they watch the story unfold. An ordinary classroom where Sylvia and Lance must meet for their reading lessons becomes a thousand different places as they create a fantastical new world and a new friendship.
Production photos by Matt Reznek
Trailer by Cameron Anderson