Seniors Will Wichman, Maddy Levy, Finn Deeney, Lucy Baer, and Jeremiah Wheatley stepped off the stage as they casted, directed, and produced three student-run plays this semester.
Four of the five seniors worked in pairs, and Will worked alone, to bring their plays to life. The performances took place April 9, 10, and 11.
Student-run plays have been a Latin tradition for the past 16 years, after Tova Wolff ‘09 came back from a summer theater program “fired up to direct a show,” according to Upper School performing arts teacher Frank Schneider. In addition to being a senior, there are requirements for directing one of these plays.
Upper School theater teacher Frances Limoncelli said, “There's an application which requires the prospective director to choose a play and think through the elements needed to produce it. It is recommended that prospective directors have experience in shows, crewing shows, or in curricular theater classes.”
Will has been eager to direct a play since he heard about the opportunity his freshman year.
“This felt like the natural progression of doing all the plays, taking acting company, taking Advanced Acting Company, and doing a student-run your senior year,” Will said. “You don't usually get the chance to direct a play, and I don't know when else I'm gonna get the opportunity.”
The seniors got to pick the plays they wanted to direct. Maddy and Finn directed “The Parfumerie,” Lucy and Jeremiah directed “All In The Timing,” and Will directed “Uncle Vanya.”
“Each of us went onto a bunch of websites and were just trying to find plays that would work,” Will said. “So as long as it was within the timeframe and we had the right amount of actors, we could do whatever play we wanted.”
Once the plays were chosen, the directors held auditions on January 9. Each actor auditioned for all three plays, and the directors made their casting decisions together to ensure all the roles could be filled. After the cast lists came out, the rehearsal process began.
“Our first job is blocking everything: going through the script and saying, ‘Okay, you're gonna be standing here, and then you're gonna walk over here,’” Maddy said. “As we get closer to our show, we will start thinking about costumes, the set, and the props, and we'll be able to get people on stage and actually see how it's gonna work in the theater.”
While the plays are student-run, Mr. Schneider and Ms. Limoncelli help supervise.
Will said, “If any problems arise, we email them, and they will check in on us throughout the rehearsal process as well just to see that we're not wasting our time or have no idea what we're doing.”
The directors figured many things out on their own, though, enhancing their leadership skills.
“I've learned to balance the friendliness that I keep with the people I'm working with while also maintaining the leadership position,” Will said. “I have expectations, and I need things to get done. It isn't just a time to goof off. I get to work with people that I know really well in a different aspect. It's a whole different type of challenge that is at times very stressful, but still very rewarding.”
The challenges of the student-run plays do not stop at directing a cast full of your friends. Timing is also a challenge. Limited preparation time has proved difficult for the directors, especially since Project Week and Spring break interrupt the prime rehearsal time.
“We're at almost a disadvantage because our performances are earlier than they have been in the past,” Will said. “I am just going in with the attitude of ‘it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be enough.’”
In addition to having limited time, having to work around people’s spring sports schedules has been an obstacle.
“That's something I hadn't had to figure out ever before, trying to learn when to schedule people,” Will said. “As time goes on and more people are having conflicts or other things going on outside of school, it has become increasingly harder to find time to get everything I need to get done within the timeframe.”
Despite these difficulties, directing was impactful for the seniors.
“I think it's such a unique experience to get to direct something. It's very, very different from acting in a show,” Maddy said. “And I think it's fun to allow seniors, in their last semester, to try this new experience and get to kind of be on the other side as one of their last projects.”
Alongside the directors’ valuable directing experience, they got to watch their cast share meaningful moments.
Finn said, “The most exciting part has been really seeing our actors fall in love with the show like we did.”
