High School drama roundup
Six Catholic high schools in the San Francisco Archdiocese are performing the plays of William Shakespeare this fall. Add to that other, more modern classics, plus a couple of contemporary plays, and the high school theatergoer will have an opportunity to sample a broad spectrum of drama including the plays: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Miracle Worker,” “The Odd Couple,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Inherit the Wind.”
Junipero Serra, Notre Dame-Belmont, and Mercy-Burlingame high schools are teaming up to produce “Macbeth,” just in time for Halloween, with the final performance actually scheduled for Oct. 31.
“I expect a lot of thrills and chills with this year’s performance,” said Director Joe Hudelson, who is overseeing the Tri-Schools Production. “The witches and ghosts celebrate Halloween, so it’s the perfect time of year for this show.”
In San Francisco, two high schools will present very different versions of “Romeo and Juliet.” Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory is enacting the tragedy in black box theater style, using a lecture hall while the high school’s new theater is under construction. Costuming and sets will project a modern-day San Francisco with Lady and Lord Montague combined into the character of Romeo’s single mother who is a Muni bus driver, said director Francine Torres-Kelly. Juliet is a rich girl, in Torres-Kelly’s interpretation.
“They meet, fall in love, and find out what it means to battle class perception, family strife, and societal norms. Tragic ending ensues,” the SHCP drama director said.
At Archbishop Riordan High School, the classic story with period costumes will be staged, albeit in abbreviated version, said director Valerie O’Riordan, who said this “Romeo and Juliet” will feature a Greek-type chorus. This production will showcase the talents of Alex Ruiz as Romeo. Ruiz is the son of a Riordan graduate from more than two decades ago, O’Riordan said.
“The last time Riordan Drama produced a Shakespeare play was “Taming of the Shrew” in 1984 directed by Brother Gary Morris, and Jose Ruiz appeared in the cast. Now, 25 years later, his son Alex is Romeo on the same stage!” For Alex, being cast as Romeo means stepping into a family tradition. “It does feel a little strange to be on the same stage that my dad was, but it is also really cool that I can perform where he did,” Alex Ruiz said of his dad’s performance as Petruchio. The Marianist boys’ school production will also feature the work of several alumni who have come back to work on costuming, graphics, lighting and staging, O’Riordan said.
Across the Bay in Marin County, San Domenico School will present “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It is described as “Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy of love and madness” by director Jennifer Grimes, who said it was a great opportunity for her students at the girls’ school.
“I am delighted with our students’ appreciation of Shakespeare’s great wit and stagecraft,” Grimes said, adding, “On top of this we layer the physical comedy of the show. The girls throw themselves into this fearlessly. I am extraordinarily fortunate to work with such inventive and talented young actors.”
San Domenico will also put on a second fall play, “The Revenge of the Woman Dressed Largely in Black,” described by the playwright as a “Neo-Post Victorian Comedic Quick Change Thriller.”
At Marin Catholic High School, William Gibson’s “The Miracle Worker,” the inspirational story of Helen Keller, will be presented through the prism of faith and the teacher-student relationship, said director Robyn Menzel. “Deaf and blind since she was 19 months old, Helen is lost in the dark until she meets a woman of unparalleled patience and diligence, her teacher Annie Sullivan. Through innumerable failed attempts and frustrations, Helen and Annie discover the importance of determination, and the power of faith,” said director Menzel. “This year at MC, we are emphasizing a message from Matthew 5:16. ‘Let your light shine before others.’ In “The Miracle Worker,” Annie Sullivan illuminates the path for Helen’s courageous journey into the light of knowledge and understanding.”
Woodside Priory is taking a fresh look at the Lewis Carroll childhood classics, “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass,” in “Alice in Wonderland.” The play is adapted for stage by Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus, said director John Sugden. Sugden promises a fun romp through the fantastic world of Alice: “This play will be a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Join Alice, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the fearsome Jabberwock, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and many more as the pages of Lewis Carroll’s masterpieces come to life!”
Woodside Priory sophomore Audrey Weber said, “I love playing Alice because the setting and the characters she interacts with are so unique and crazy. The plot is so surprising it always keeps the audience guessing.”
At Mercy-San Francisco, an all-girls version of the Neil Simon classic, “The Odd Couple”, tells the story of two very different people who find a way to get along, while Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton is doing “Urinetown: The Musical,” which despite the title is a G-rated play, SHP drama director John Loschmann said. The Tony-nominated musical tells the story of a mythical town where big business takes advantage of the citizens when water is rationed. “This farcical comedy actually makes a statement about the need to conserve our natural resources,” Loschmann said.
Jesuit St. Ignatius College Preparatory is presenting two plays: Neil Simon’s “Jake’s Women,” and “The Laramie Project.” Set in 1980s New York, “‘Jake’s Women’ is about Jake, a successful writer whose marriage is falling apart. Jake struggles to differentiate the women and dialogue in real life with the ones in his imagination,” said director Meredith Cecchin Galvin.
Ted Curry directs “The Laramie Project,” written by Moisés Kaufman, about a town’s reaction to the 1998 slaying of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, widely believed to have been savagely beaten and left for dead because he was homosexual.
And at Convent of the Sacred Heart and Stuart Hall high schools, director Pamela Rickard oversees a joint production of “Inherit the Wind,” a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” about John Scopes’ conviction for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, contrary to Tennessee law at the time. Rickard said the play is part of “a year-long collaborative inquiry between Stuart Hall and Convent of the Sacred Heart high schools to explore the place where religion and science meet and diverge.”
By Valerie Schmalz
From October 30, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
