UFV Theatre's heart-warming production of Schoolhouse chronicles a young teacher's earnest struggle to reach one of her disconnected students.

The UFV Theatre Department launches its 30th anniversary season with the play by acclaimed Canadian playwright Leanna Brodie, directed by UFV faculty member Bruce Kirkley.

The show runs until Nov. 29 in the UFV Theatre on the Chilliwack campus.

The action of the play takes place in 1938, and is set in a one-room schoolhouse in a farming community. A delightful but unmanageable group of children finally meets its match in the character of Melita Linton, an 18-year-old teacher fresh out school.

Miss Linton soon faces an even bigger challenge, in the form of Ewart, a menacing and mysterious juvenile delinquent in her class. The play chronicles Miss Linton's struggle to connect with a boy who has shut down from everyone, including himself and to persuade the community of Baker’s Creek to open its arms to the troubled young man in their midst.

The play was actually chosen to highlight the 20th anniversary of the United

Nations International Year of the Child, and to celebrate "the incredible

influence teachers and schools" have had on the healthy development of

Canadian children.

Each year, the UFV theatre season includes Canadian plays, plus works from

the international repertoire and a Shakespeare production. All this, including an annual Director’s Theatre Festival, a fringe-style event featuring some of the best young theatre talent in B.C. and additional visiting productions.

In addition to Schoolhouse, the 2009/10 season includes a production of 25th Street Theatre’s Paper Wheat, a musical, following the struggles of the early homesteaders in Western Canada, which runs Jan. 20 to Feb. 7. William Shakespeare’s wild romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which plays March 10 to 28, is followed by The Directors’ Theatre Festival, from April 28 to May 2. For more call 604-795-2814, e-mail theatre@ufv.ca, or visit www.ufv.ca/theatre.

Schoolhouse tickets $8 to $18, for run Nov. 11 to 29. Matinees: Nov. 22 and 29 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 17 at noon. Half-price previews on Nov.11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. All evening performances at 7:30 p.m.