Dynamic performances make fall play well-worth watching
It’s hard for anything to make someone both laugh and cry in the space of only a few moments, but in The Anatomy of Gray the Minnehaha Players do just that.
The small cast is dynamic and interactive and makes the audience feel every scene like they were living it themselves. In particular, senior Lili Zenobian and junior Cat Potts fully invested in and highlighted their characters, Zenobian as the main character, teenager and dreamer June, and Potts as her mother.
This investment is seen as soon as the play begins and June’s father dies and leaves the two women behind to figure out how to live without him. Zenobian and Potts truly show the audience the grief and pain that a daughter and wife would feel, tears were sighted among the viewers multiple times.
Another defining performance came from junior Kevin Dustrude who played the mysterious doctor who is blown into the small town of Gray, Indiana, where the play is set, by a tornado. The doctor, Dr. Galen P. Gray, is a fascinating and layered character that the audience watches develop through out the play, and it’s through Dustrude that the audience can see both the external, and internal, struggles that the doctor goes through in finding his place in the community where he had been dropped.
Other notable performances came from junior Cole Dennis as the somewhat small-minded Paster Wingfield, and sophomore Harry Wold as the teenage soda pop drinking Homer, who has a huge crush on Zenobian’s character June.
One of the plays main areas of conflict occurs when a deadly yet mysterious plague strikes Gray. It’s when this happens that the audience truly realizes that these student actors have thrown out all the stereotypes usually attached to student productions. This production is in the same realm as professional plays, in fact after viewing it, the audience may be surprised to remember that all of these actors are only in high school.
In conclusion the play is an uproarious adventure filled with action, tears and love, both unrequited and not. The entire cast is filled with energy and high spirits throughout and keeps the story moving and the audience on the edge of their seats, never quite sure what will happen next.
All in all, The Anatomy of Gray is a superb play put on by some very talented student actors and is definitely a must watch, but remember to bring to bring your tissues.
Costuming incorporates relevance and careful observation
A lot goes into a Minnehaha play before the curtains can rise opening night. Many of these behind the scenes activities are taken for granted, so much so that the audience doesn’t even think of them, but they are critically important.
For Anatomy of Gray, juniors Angela Scharf, Marissa White, Emma Spreng, and Kate Brown are in charge of the costuming. They volunteered to to do this laborious task in an attempt to, “do something different and see a different side of MA” , Scharf said.
The four juniors find costumes by going through the giant clothes closet behind the stage. The process begins when they pull down any piece of clothing that seems relevant to Anatomy of Gray, and later they will section these clothes into costumes for different characters as the juniors get a more developed knowledge of the characters and the time period of the play.
By Jorie Schwab
Stromberg returns to the set of the fall play with new designs
Art teacher Nathan Stromberg has once again led the design and construction for the set of the fall play, devising challenging new set designs. In Anatomy of Gray, Stromberg premieres an innovative, ceiling-mounted, rigged pulley system to hoist the lead actress midair and away from her scene safely. Stromberg has also made a more dynamic production using varying platform heights.
By Raye Ebensteiner
Hover over the points below to see a variety of pictures from the show. Photos by Maddie Binning.