My DS is Little Red Riding Hood

[notafraidofthebigbadwolf]

My DS is 8 and sobbed the whole way home from school today. They are doing a play for the first time in a long time - which we are thrilled about - but he's just been given the part of Little Red Riding Hood. No surprise, he wanted to be the Wolf. The teachers thought it would be fun to shake things up abit and give a boy the role of Little Red Riding Hood, and maybe the Wolf to a girl.
Boys have also ended up with the Wolf and Grandma. In fact I can't think what main part a girl has got. It is a small school and there are quite a few more boys then girls.

Still, it seems like a punishment to him.

Teacher said we could think about it over night, but it's too late to give him another part now as they've all been handed out. They'd have to make him a squirrel or something and give the part to a child who hadn't auditioned well enough to get a main part up front.

AIBU to be sad?!

No - The school is being far too woke.
Yes - he was lucky to get a part and should try to make the most of it.

Thank you - I name changed for this as very outing!

So essentially he wanted to be the wolf and is sulking? Why can't he be proud of it at the end of the year?

I get that - but I guess like others have suggested you can turn him into some sort of red hooded super hero.
maybe ask the teacher to compromise and drop the 'little' from the name of red riding hood or maybe change it to something that just ryhmes ie even John from the Hood? If she is shaking things up playing on the name makes sense to me too. But its the 'liitle' for me that makes the role more come across as weak and vulnerable.

I think there's two separate issues here.

Is it acceptable that the Grandma, Wolf AND Little Red Riding Hood have all gone to boys, leaving girls without any major roles? - no not really.

Girls need a space to shine too and there should be fairness. I can't believe there weren't any girls that deserved a leading role at all.

And if they decided it would be interesting to give the boys the main female roles, they should have given the 'male roles' eg Wolf and huntsman to the girls.

2. should your son be so upset about playing a "girl role"? - No.

firstly they've clearly said LRRH will be a boy in a hoodie. So it's a boy role.

Secondly - other little boys are playing e.g. the grandmother so he's hardly singled out.

Thirdly - LRRH is the title role so he should be proud.

Fourthly - just because he thought the Wolf part had better lines doesn't mean he gets it.

He auditioned and someone else was better for that part. There is an important lesson in resilience here.

I'm sure there were plenty of children who auditioned and didn't get a speaking role at all.

You don't just get want you want in acting. And if everyone pulled out or sulked when they didn't get their first choice there would never be any plays at all.

Fifthly - even if he was playing LRRH as a girl, that shouldn't even matter. Long history of men playing female roles (e.g. in Shakespeare). It's acting. It's fine.

@Lemoncurd

My son was Little Red Riding hood in year 6 (aged 11) and was really thrilled with the part. They had a real mix of different children playing traditional tale parts, all with different interpretations and seemed to have a whale of a time. Son decided to play on it being a traditionally female role and asked me to put his hair in plaits for school that day. He was also offered a part as Cinderella on another day and was so disappointed that he had to do his secondary school induction instead!

I'm sure you can put a positive spin on it for your son and encourage him to have fun.

Oh, that's so good to hear! I've not seen the full script yet. I'm so glad to hear that he found ways to make it fun!

@makinganavalon

You are being absolutely ridiculous and you should probably question how and why your son has absorbed a message that girl = lesser / embarrassing.

If he doesn't want the part then of course he shouldn't be obliged to accept it, but you cannot expect the school to start scurrying around recasting the play so that he can have another part he does want.

Perhaps he needs to read the script and see that they will have changed things to make it work. I'm sure it will be a clever revision of the original tale.
He's been given the lead role! Surely you can sell this to him!

There is a local theatre production near us right now doing The Odd Couple but with a rework to make the couple female not male. It just refreshes the old story and gives it a new angle.

YABU every school play some child isn’t happy.
He needs to learn he can’t always get the part he wants.

Tell him if he doesn’t want to do it then turn it down as I’m sure there’ll be lots of his classmates who would love to be a main part.
He can try again next time.

It could be based on the Anthony Browne adaptation called Into the Forest where the main character is a boy. You could show him that book even if it isn't adapted from that.

YABU. DD was Joseph last year in the nativity. Mixed school, fairly even split boys/girls. She was delighted.
Maybe tell him Peter Pan is always played by a girl, so why not Little Red Riding Hood by a boy. In theatre characters being played by the opposite sex happens quite frequently.

Well, I attended an all girls school. We did not stick to plays that only featured female characters. I often played the part 'designed ' for a male actor, as did many girls. Can't say I have been suffering a life time of trauma as a result.

Initially I thought this was unfair. No 8 year old boy wants to play a girl. But then I saw this:

They've said he'll play it as a boy in a red hoodie.

If they've properly adapted the role and the script (in fact it might already be a commercial script) I think it would be fine.

There are lots of fairy tale adaptations that do things like this. And I don't think that anyone will see his role as girlish during the play itself (or in rehearsals).

I love that some posters think it's feminist to give the main part (and all the parts apparently) to a boy. Brilliant. Amazing thinking.

The 21st century - what a time to be alive!

I don't think either of them are wrong. The school are doing nothing wrong by mixing up the roles, little red riding hood works for both. But also if he doesn't want to and feels upset and would prefer to be a background squirrel, that's fine too. I would say the same if he had the wolf and were upset about being the 'bad' character.

All that's happened is he didn't get the part he wanted, which lets face it must happen to most kids. A good teaching opportunity - you don't always get what you wanted, but neither do you have to accept the part.

@Croissantly Yes, that's pretty much it... he's definitely been sulking!
He's calmed down now. I think it will be OK.
Thanks everyone. We will do the nicely suggested reframing and try to make what we can out of it. I love some of the name change ideas. I agree that it's the 'Little' Red Riding Hood bit that grates. When we see the script, we'll see what can be done to spice up the character.

Here you go, OP. It's a Julia Donaldson adaptation

blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781447927501?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=CjwKCAiA55mPBhBOEiwANmzoQoeKzlj6wEEenSrbE7xQqClz_ufNsb5OUsQNApaQDXy7Ah9V4WALQxoCD40QAvD_BwE

Hope that will help him realise he's not playing a girl!

@ISeeTheLight

YABU. DD was Joseph last year in the nativity. Mixed school, fairly even split boys/girls. She was delighted. Maybe tell him Peter Pan is always played by a girl, so why not Little Red Riding Hood by a boy. In theatre characters being played by the opposite sex happens quite frequently.

Probably the only role that really would be a step too far in cross sex casting would be Mary.

School have started work now, in January for something that's happening at the end of the school year?????

That's insane. What year group is your DS in?

@saraclara - Oh lovely. Thank you!

@ImpassiveVoice

Make him an eco warrior - Little (or Great) Green Robin Hood?

Don't do that. Why would you do that? That's just weird.

@Rogue1001

School have started work now, in January for something that's happening at the end of the school year?????

That's insane. What year group is your DS in?

Oh no..it will be a March extravaganza I think - Covid permitting!

Why is the school putting on a play now? It's an odd time of year to be rehearsing for a play with no specific events on the horizon, like harvest festival or Easter.

Read Prince Cinders with him. Do the teachers expect him to play a girl character, or with LRRH be a boy in their version?

@LittleGwyneth

You are being absolutely ridiculous and you should probably question how and why your son has absorbed a message that girl = lesser / embarrassing.

If he doesn't want the part then of course he shouldn't be obliged to accept it, but you cannot expect the school to start scurrying around recasting the play so that he can have another part he does want.

Utter rubbish! The vast majority of boys would not want to play girls and vice versa. That’s what this is about.

@SailingNotSurfing

Why is the school putting on a play now? It's an odd time of year to be rehearsing for a play with no specific events on the horizon, like harvest festival or Easter.

What an odd comment. School plays don't have to be tied to any 'special events'.

How depressing that he at six thinks is a bad thing to be given a role that’s associated with being female. And how depressing that you agree.