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The Camarillo Acorn Thousand Oaks Acorn Moorpark Acorn - Simi Valley Acorn |
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Student directs school play
The script, which examines East Coast upper-middle class WASP families, is as much a challenge for the audience as it is for the actors. The 12 students in the cast portray more than 50 characters. The timeline jumps in a non-chronological fashion from 1929 to modern day. Scenes "bleed" into each other; that is, a character from the upcoming vignette will come on stage for some business while another scene plays out. The show is a collection of sketches about different families. The one set actually represents various houses. The dining room of the title is more a state of mind than an actual place. The Spotlight show is an annual project involving the club's juniors and seniors, who oversee every aspect of the production, from selecting the script to directing, acting, technical work and publicity. This year's producer is senior Aubrey Byrne, who said the club pays for the show's expenses through fundraisers, such as a Friday night variety show. She's proud of "Dining Room" and feels it's "the best Spotlight done in all (my) four years." The production is Karl's first directing task, although he brings on-stage experience from school plays, community theater and various youth theater companies. Karl said he's learned about creating a show from the directors he's worked with as an actor. In keeping with the play's unusual structure, Karl is staging the show in three-quarter round, a first for OPHS theater. The playing area is on the floor of the school's multipurpose room rather than on the stage. The set consists of a back wall and a platform only 8 inches off the floor. The audience sits in rows along three sides of the platform, close enough to feel that they're part of the dining room as well. Karl explained how he coached the actors to play the multiple characters, which range from children to grandparents. He directed the actors to stand in front of a mirror and observe their posture, expressions and physical aspects. The actors then constructed a posture, walk and speech for each role. Karl is also having his actors mime most of their actions instead of using props. He said that preparing food for the eating scenes would be too expensive and time consuming. And in the intimate setting the students had to "tone down" their acting and make their gestures seem natural instead of projecting their actions across a large stage. "I want (the play) to be a documentary," said Karl, as if the audience was observing the people at home. One of the actors is Julie Rothman, who portrays six roles. Rothman loves playing the different roles and considers it better than just doing one character. She likes the challenge of making each character different. Karl said that teacher and Drama Club adviser Allan Hunt was always willing to help, but "he let me fly solo in what I wanted to do." As a director, Karl said "I like being in control" and that he had "a strong vision of the production before going into it." Karl said he loves directing and wants to do more. His career plans are to earn a degree in musical theater, and open his own regional theater and conservatory for youth. As for the play's message, Karl called the dining room "breeds life, love, happiness, fear and anxiety that all comes with human nature and life." Although the people in the have aspirations toward goodness and beauty, often it's a facade. Ultimately, Karl said, "The beauty of the (dining) room comes from the people." Performances are 7 p.m. tonight through Saturday, June 17 to 19, in the Pavilion, 899 N. Kanan Road. Tickets are $7 general admission, $5 OPHS students. |
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