M-P Winter Showcase this weekend
By Dean Shipley
Staff Writer
The Madison-Plains High School fledgling thespians will present three one-act plays as their Winter Showcase Saturday and Sunday in the high school auditorium.
For three students, each directing one of the one-act dramas, it’s been a “dramatic” learning experience.
Which Scott Spohler, drama advisor, intends it to be. (It is school, right?)
“Seated” in the director’s chair for the first time are Bob Darlington, Christina Hunter and Sam Hunter. Darlington is directing “Rivals” by Jason Milligan; Christina Hunter, “Promageddon” by Dan Dietz; and Sam Hunter directs “Tracks” by Peter Tarsi. They have all acted in roles before, but have not tried directing until now.
Darlington said the challenges he faced included keeping his actors on task and remembering their lines and “what to do on stage.” He also had to arrange for props. In all he was very busy. He said “Rivals” is coming together nicely. The actors have learned their lines “one hundred percent and I’m getting together some last little bits.”
Actors from left, seated: Erin Carroll as Alexis, Haley Kitchen as Kimmy Whitman, and Brady Simmons as Gil; standing: David Eagle as Theo and Emma Davis as Dot. They are directed by Christina Hunter.
He has learned being a director is “a lot more different than I originally assumed.” He has a new-found respect for all directors, whether it’s for a top-tier movie or a church production.
Christina Hunter said she always has wanted to try her hand at directing and took on “Promageddon.” She assembled a cast, but scheduling conflicts arose and she had to select some other players when original cast members bowed out. She said this play has afforded the opportunity to work for the first time with David Eagle, as Theo, which she said is “working out well.”
She said rehearsals have been productive. The actors have applied themselves “to get things done.” She declares them “pretty much there” for Saturday.
Of directing Hunter said, “There’s a lot more to it than I thought originally. There’s a lot of juggling to make sure everything fits everybody’s schedule.
Sam Hunter’s biggest challenge was a cast of 10, the largest of the three. He said he had to go outside the school’s drama club to obtain enough actors.
“I had to do some begging,” Hunter said.
It came together in the end he said. He described them as talented, “talkative,” but they work well together as a cast.
He said the lesson he has learned is as long as the cast is talented and they have the right idea, “everything will be fine in the end.”
The cast of “Tracks” by Tarsi includes:
• Marissa Knisley: homeless girl
• Jordi Verhoeven: old man
• Brittney Summers: lawyer
• Ross Higbee: professor
• Samantha Shafer: nun
• Haley Kitchen: businesswoman
• Torey Taylor: businessman
• Casey Watson: high school girl
• John Davis: high school boy
• Destiny Bennett: waitress.
The cast of “Rivals” by Milligan includes:
• Ross Higbee: nerd
• Austin Wilson: jock as loan officer
• Sidney Robertson: jock’s secretary
The cast of “Promageddon” by Dietz includes:
• Emma Davis: Dot
• Brady Simmons: Gil, her brother
• David Eagle: Theo
• Erin Carroll: Alexis
• Haley Kitchen: Kimmy
