With the close of As You Like It we had about three weeks of down time in the theatre (which wasn’t actually down time as many of our performers and technicians were hard at work on the Spring Dance Concert!) before we began gearing up for our year-end projects.
On Thursday evening the 8th Grade Shakespeare Project performs Romeo and Juliet. The performance is a culmination of over a trimester’s work. Nearly thirty members of the class of 2019 took on the responsibility of directing, designing, acting, and stage managing one of the most beloved stories of all time. Our rehearsal process looked a little like a three-ring circus- about a half a dozen things were happening at any given moment! Fight director Jeff Lord perfected one of three sword fights, assistant director Maddie Elsea ’19 and Karen Janocha ’19 blocked countless scenes while three stage managers took down notes. Costume designers flitted about the entire building- grabbing actors to measure, pulling shoes from giant bins in the costume collection, or designing intricate masks for the famous ball scene. Set designers worked on collages that were ultimately projected onto the set, layered paint on flats that became the world of the Montagues and Capulets, and used power tools to secure their pieces on the stage. The end result of all of this work will be on display tomorrow night for an audience of family, teachers, and friends.
Friday night is a uniquely special night when Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House, a senior project by Nick Dalzell ’15 and Matt Steinberg ’15, goes up. Matt and Nick took the helm of this project from start to finish, working tirelessly to tell Ruhl’s surrealist story of love and control. As they wrote in their directors’ note “We chose this play for the masterful way with which Sarah Ruhl blends in surrealism with comedy and drama. The lines and stage directions verge on poetry, and she gives us and the actors so much to work with.” The project, the most ambitious in at least seven years, is a culmination of their combined ten years of work in the Williston theatre program.
Both events are free. You can reserve tickets for the projects by visiting our ticket website.