The typical storyline of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is not what West Linn High School drama students are aiming for in their latest production. This student-led play will stick to the original story, but with a modern twist. The play is intended to exemplify a more powerful, independent Snow White.

Syd Clifford, junior, plays one of the main roles, Snow White, in the upcoming production. “This play has been completely reinvented by the students. We have written the script and have been in charge of the props, worked on the set,” Clifford said. Clifford also had a part in adapting the play. “We changed a few of the parts in the play to hold a modern twist,” she said. “We have a female knight instead of a prince, and we made the language a lot more modern.”

The idea for the story was to take out the prince in order to show that Snow White could be independent, rather than relying on a man.  “We didn’t want to show a lot of romantic interest in the play. We mainly wanted Snow White to be like ‘I don’t need no man’ and have her be on her own,” Clifford said.

The students wanted to keep the feel of the play mystical, so the costumes are designed in medieval style. “We have someone who is in charge of costumes. She is amazing,” Meranda Corona, senior, who is performing two different roles as the mirror and first dwarf, said. “But it’s difficult for us to put things together because we have a tight budget, so there will probably be a mix of items from our own closet collection and some new things as well.”

The cast decided to keep the play a musical, so they held brainstorming sessions to create their own lyrics. “We have two songs that we wrote ourselves, it took work but it was fun,” Corona said.

Both Corona and Clifford went through improv auditions to earn a spot in the play. They were given a scene from the story and had to completely create their own part in order to determine their position in the play. They began working on the script in October, and practice everyday.

“It’ll be cool to work behind the scenes a little because I’ve always been just on the stage,” Clifford said. “Time management is something I’ve really taken from this experience in particular.”

Clifford and Corona agree that the play explores new ideas and pushes the limits. “This play is not typical Disney Snow White, there’s a lot of feminists that come wake Snow White up,” Clifford said.

The show begins Jan. 8 and runs through the 10^th at 6 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre located in the music building. Ticket prices have not been established,  but the proceeds will go towards the drama fund.