A group of Nansemond River High School students plans to brighten the lives of terminally ill children by raising toy donations with the performance of an original play.

About 19 students will perform “Sarah’s Book,” which was written by Harold Hodge, a junior, at 7 p.m. March 8 in the school auditorium.

Entry will be via toy donation, and the toys will be given to Edmarc Hospice for Children in Portsmouth.

“(The play is) about a troubled teenage girl,” Hodge explained. “Her father’s dying, and she gets bullied at school.”

Sarah, who will be played by Kasey Furlo, finds an “enchanted book,” which allows her to leave her challenging reality for “fairytale land,” Hodge continued.

“She gets in a battle between good and evil, and she works to set everything back right,” he said. “In the process, she learns to deal with some of the problems she’s having.”

Hodge said he wrote the play, his sixth, in one day. “I plan to make a career out of writing and directing,” he said, adding that all but one of his plays have been performed on stage. “One was just for a (writing) competition.”

The teens gathered to rehearse Wednesday in drama teacher Joleen Neighbours’ room. They’ve been rehearsing for about three weeks, Monday through Thursday, Hodge said.

Furlo said that the title character she will play “casts out a lot of people, and she doesn’t really fit in.”

Another character, Sugarmamma, played by Jada White, takes her on an adventure into the enchanted book, Furlo added.

“She finally realizes that she likes everyone, and she wants to help them,” Furlo said.

Furlo previously performed in Nansemond River’s award-winning production of “Scapino,” a traditional Italian comedy, for a statewide Virginia Theater Association competition, as well as in “Footloose.”

White said she is trying to embody her mystical character and “make it my own. It’s not so much acting but channeling myself.”

She played Captain Hook in “The Adventures of Peter Pan,” which the drama group staged last year to raise canned food for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. White has also acted in “Medea” and “Footloose.”

Hodge said the drama group’s line-up this time has three new additions. “They said they wanted to do another play, so I had to think of something,” he said.