Sutton St James drama graduate stars online in 'Mr Beaver's Advent Series'
A drama graduate from Sutton St James is lighting up children’s lives online with a daily diary from a much-loved children’s character.
Gaby Ward (21) is spreading some much-needed Christmas cheer up until the big day by acting out a set of short stories, called Mr Beaver’s Advent Series.
Based on the character from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, part of The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C. S. Lewis, Gaby describes each one-minute to three-minute episode as a way “to make people a bit happier in rough times”.
She said: “I played Mr Beaver in a production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at university.
“A lot of people don’t have access to an advent calendar so I came up with Mr Beaver’s Advent Series, releasing a short video every day for the first 25 days of December.
“It’s a light-hearted way to bring some lessons to children and make people a lot happier in what are rough times at the moment.
“Mr Beaver talks about what he does every day, while his wife Mrs Beaver likes to play tricks on him.
“One day, when it was snowing, Mr Beaver played a game of snowballs and on another day, he looked in his wife’s cake tin to see if there was any cake he could eat.
“A lot of people really like watching the series and say they’re looking forward to the next story.”
Gaby left Lincoln University in the summer with a first class drama degree after previously studying at Sutton St James Community Primary School, Peele Community College (now University Academy Long Sutton) and Spalding High School's sixth form.
She said: “I was in little productions at secondary school and from then on, I always liked drama.
“I was also in a few productions with Act II Theatre Company, such as Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
"Then at university, I was in a group called Regeneration Theatre Company, which did productions and then gave all the proceeds to charity.
“I’d love to be on the stage, TV or even go into the production side of the acting industry so I can contribute and make people happy."
Gaby's grandfather, Sutton Bridge parish and district councillor Michael Booth, said: "I'm proud of what Gaby's achieved throughout her school and university education.
"But she's not just sitting around doing nothing, she's got a job at a garden centre, while keeping her hand in what she hopes to do in the future when the coronavirus clears up."
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