For the past five years, the education and youth director at Agudas Achim of Northern Virginia has written the Purim spiel, performed by students in grades two to six. This year, the production is largely student-based.

Two sixth graders, Audrey Yeston and Sivan Ziv-El Boral, authored this year’s Purim spiel, but they didn’t write just any script; they adapted the fantasy novel series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” to tell Queen Esther’s story.

“These are two incredibly bright, articulate, big readers, not just in Purim time, but they’re interested in the world around them,” Chaya Silver, Agudas Achim’s education and youth director, said. “When they found out that I said, ‘We’ll do it,’ they really stepped up to the plate and worked with me a lot.”

Scheduled for March 9 and 13, the Purim spiel will feature about 20 to 25 students at Camp Half-Blood, the fictional Long Island home for kids who have a Greek god or goddess as a parent and one “mortal” parent.

“The twist is that it’s a bunch of ‘half-blood’ kids at camp who have to do a play for a theater competition on the life of Esther,” Silver said.

The Alexandria synagogue’s main sanctuary will be transformed into a theater space for the two performances. In front of a large banner depicting the camp, participants will act out the tale of an orphan girl who becomes queen of Persia and risks her life to save the Jewish people from genocide.

Silver noted that the Purim story is one that especially seems to resonate with the religious school students, the other being the Passover story.

“I think it’s because they’re novellas in their own right,” Silver said. “They have characters you can relate to. They have plots that are easy to follow.”

Silver is no stranger to musical theater and youth education herself: She holds a master’s in acting and directing from the University of Tennessee and has done Ph.D. work in children’s theater. She said she decided to hand over the reins to students due to the importance of youth leadership and creative pursuit: “Having it students-focused is really important.”

“I had the privilege of producing and pushing as much attention in the direction of the kids and teens as I can and it has truly been a joy,” Silver said.

The writers, directors, stage managers and most of the prop artists and producers are all students. The choreographer, Ari Rein, is a high school student at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Every student who auditioned for the Purim spiel has a role — some speaking and some nonspeaking.

Weekly rehearsals began in early January, with participating students meeting after Sunday school. One challenge is that the students have 10 rehearsals to prepare a 25-minute musical.

Another challenge is re-creating the mythical creatures of the Percy Jackson universe, such as the camp director, Chiron.

“It’s not easy to dress up a centaur on stage, but I figure fur leggings can take us a long way,” Silver said.

Fortunately for the production team, the props and scenery are intentionally simple: “It’s not fancy because it’s supposed to be things the kids would pull together at camp.”

Parents and other adults pitch in, such as a congregant who owns a printing company and helps create the scenery or the Agudas Achim staff who help make props. But for the most part, it’s the kids who are running the show.

The most enjoyable part of the process for Silver has been “seeing the anticipation that the children have each year for creating the spiel and watching them take more and more ownership.” The older students, who have long been involved in Purim spiels, mentor the younger participants.

For many of the kids, the Purim spiel is the only experience they’ve had on stage. Others have gone on to pursue community theater.

“I think [participating in theater] gives confidence; I think it improves communication skills,” Silver said. “I think it develops empathy. I think doing theater gives kids an environment where their creativity is appreciated and also to learn what it means to be part of a team.”

She said she enjoys working with the students and has high hopes for this year’s student-led Purim spiel.

“Kids deserve so much [more] credit for being creative, capable beings than we often give them credit,” Silver said. “They can do things and I believe in them.”

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com