The musical Children of Autumn will be playing at the Jasper Activity Centre on November 14. It’s a fundraiser to help bring a hyperbaric chamber to Jasper to help children with disabilities in the Jasper, Hinton and Valemount areas.

The show is a musical theatre dinner event with the dinner provided by Dinner For You, and will also feature a silent auction, bar and fire spinners from Golden.

The play itself was written first with the music of Kohn and Deagle in mind, and then had the script added by Kohn and writer Stephen Shaw.

Kohn explains the musical is meant to inspire people to revisit their own inner-child and remind them that they are all like children, full of wonder, creativity, curiosity, magic, spontaneity and full of innocence.

The lead, played by Elena d’Haene, is a guide for her mother, played by teacher Kim Wallace.

“She’s bringing her mother back into nature, and then from nature, they’re learning about and remembering who they are,” Kohn says.

About 30 masks, hand crafted by Shaw, are used in the play, worn by children from age five to 16. Shaw will also be running a workshop at the elementary school after Halloween, teaching them how to make masks, some of which will also be used in the play.

The masks represent individual characters, and all the characters are connected to nature, Kohn explains. “One is a jester, and he’s about our silliness.

He’s the only character really that’s not of nature. There’s nocturne, which is night, there’s fire, wind, there’s a cat, like a cougar, there’s a raven, there’s an owl, there’s stardust.”

All the masks represent a sort of myth behind them, owl being wise, dolphin being water, and the singer, Kohn, who sings all the songs in the play, represents air.

The event is a fundraiser for the hyperbaric chamber, which has seen large support from community members in town including Dave Macdowell and his 24 Hours of Adrenalin team and Greg Van Tighem from his farmer’s markets, hockey teams and other fundraisers.

Kohn is proud so many members of the community are coming together for the event. Nicole Koebel is in charge of the choreography, and the daycare, nursery school and elementary school have been working on arts and crafts to make centerpieces and leaves for the play. Businesses are donating items for the silent auction, although more items are still needed, and Megan Leitch is leading a youth art exhibit whose proceeds will go towards the hyperbaric chamber.

Tickets for Children of Autumn can be purchased for $25, dinner included, at the North Face store and at the BeLoved Natural Healing Centre. The show will be on Saturday, Nov. 14, however tickets must be purchased ahead of time in order to plan for number of meals.