By Ryan Hawthorne, Staff Writer
River Hill Theatre prepares for “Peter and the Starcatcher,” taking place on October 22 – 25, with a variety of new choreography techniques in rehearsal, a creative new set design, and high expectations by everyone involved.
The actors involved in the show say this play is “different” from previous years. Emphasis on choreography and “blocking,” or movement and levels while on stage, takes advantage of each actor to create “tableaus” that will delight the audience.
Ms. Meyer, the theatre director at River Hill, admits that the different blocking style takes more time. “The preparation… is different from the ones we’ve done before. It’s a different process. We’re not as far along as we typically are, but not in a bad way.” She went on to elaborate. “We’re doing a lot more experimental blocking. It’s much more organic. At rehearsals we do a bit more ‘play’ to come up with our blocking, instead of it being fully director-based.”
Irene Lee, playing the female lead Molly, says “The production requires a lot of imagination from the actors themselves. They’re the ones who are making the environment, rather than the set doing all the work.”
Senior Penny Tofigh, who plays a comedic duo with Tyler Bowman, thinks it is all “spectacular… so fun and so silly and very collaborative… Ms. Meyer’s working with us and taking our suggestions.” She goes on to add, “That’s also what I’m most worried about— there’s a lot of blocking to remember… to make it look good, you have to spend a lot of time on it.”
But rehearsals are only one half of the show. And despite some of the actors saying the set isn’t “as important” this year, the stage crew would tend to disagree.
Minh Shaw, Hope Bogard, and Elysia Weldon, the stage managers this year, are hard at work building a massive set that will serve as backdrop, stage, and interactive setting. It’s going to be “two boats, and the bottom is going to look like the cabin of a ship… It’s going to be 8 feet tall and… maybe a little smaller than the Addams Family set.” The Addams Family set last year was enormous, with three stories and 15 feet of height, spanning the whole stage. Slightly smaller will not disappoint.
Most of the wood for the sets is reused year after year. Shaw anticipates buying a fresh set of paints. Other than that, all that is required is hard work and persistence. Shaw says it usually “[takes] about two months.”
Other members of the stage crew clearly had different priorities. Weldon joked, “Well, we use – Table saw! And another cool saw! They can cut you! Drill!” Senior May Keith says on safety,”There are no cameras… It’s the room you’re most likely to bleed out in!”
Many seniors beloved by the theatre program left last year, bound for greater things. Their absence is missed, but Tofigh believes that the freshman group looks promising. “I love everyone in the cast… there are a lot of new kids, a lot of freshmen in the cast… but they’re really nice people.”
Your correspondent has also been informed that the show is expected to be jam-packed with humor. Tyler Bowan and Tofigh are playing a comedic duo, with a scene “where we’re trying to re-tell a story that we forgot, and we’re trying to recreate it in one minute for our lives. Literally for our lives. It’s super panicked… At one point he jumps on my back, pretending to be a horse!” Tofigh claims her favorite line is “Pork… what a beautiful word.” Chris Lee as Smee, also a senior, is predicted to be equally hilarious.
Preparations for a show takes a lot of time and energy from people. What drives them to do it? For Lee, it is the chance to let out creative energy with the promise of “a very welcoming community… very judgement free. You don’t need to worry about sounding weird… because everybody’s weird, so it doesn’t matter. It’s a very free feeling.”
Preparations for the show reflect this sense of community. The late rehearsals, new choreography, and crew calls all exhibit the cast and crew’s determination to make this show the best it can be.