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| Lizzie Purnell '15, A.J. Gersh '15, and Jack Maniscalco '15 in "The Illusion" |
By A.J. Gersh '15
Led by new theatre director Mr. Ron Giddings '99, the Water Street Players will be performing their adaptation of the hilarious comedy, "The Illusion," by Tony Kushner and Pierre Corneille.
AJG: Mr. Giddings, what are your expectations for your first show directed at Severn?
RG: Perfection. I expect it to make a really big impact. I hope that we have a really high attendance why i wanted to do something that was fun.
I am hoping it's not just Severn people coming to the show. I hope this sparks a lot more community involvement.
It is a great piece of literature, so I hope the school faculty likes it.
I don’t like to do shows that it's like, "Oh that is a high school version of that." I want to be at a professional level. I want people to go see "The Illusion" not "the watered-down high school version of The Illusion."
I think this will be an awesome production and not just a little high school version of the show.
AJG: Tell me a bit about the cast individually and as a whole.
RG: So, what I really like about this cast, in particular, is that we have a wide range of experience. We go from people who have done every show in their severn career, to people who are in their first show; freshman to seniors- a good spread.
There is definitely a family and ensemble feel to the whole thing, from the senior leadership to freshmen up and comers.
Individually, I want everybody to give honest, relatable performances, that allows the audience to connect and love all of the characters for different reasons.
The is the first show that seniors have done in a classical style, this allows them to have a full theatre experience at Severn.
AJG: What are you bringing to Severn's theatre program this year?
RG:
- We're doing the theatre-goers trips to grow school wide interest in theatre. A couple weeks ago, we saw Amedaeus up at Center Stage in Baltimore.
- I want more people seeing shows and that has a lot to do with show selection and marketing, so I am definitely trying to improve in those categories.
- I am trying to expand the Upper School curriculum to have more upper level theatre courses.
- We are doing a full length show in fall AND spring, which is basically doubling the program.
- I want to have an understudy performance/showcase (afternoon of the final show) a truncated version of the show, directed by a senior. All the understudies will have to go on and do a few scenes.
AJG: As we wrap this up, do you have words to leave me with?
RG: "IT'S TIME FOR THE ARTS TO EXPLODE.”
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Synopsis for The Illusion:
What are the real powers of sorcery? To alter? To define? To transport? Tony Kushner and Pierre Corneille before him go for all three, which is only part of the magic in Kushner's fanciful adaptation of Corneille's "The Illusion."
Simply put, this is the tale of a rigid father, Pridamant (Zak Rosen '16), who, stricken with remorse for having provoked his son to flee the family home, searches out the magician Alcandre (Lizzie Purnell '15) in the hope that she will help him find out what happened to the wayward boy. Alcandre does, and the ironic twist of the piece is that after several false starts, passionate re-enactments, comic delusions and confusions, the truth is revealed and Papa finds he doesn't like it. The lighthearted ending is a cynical but honest lesson in selective affection. All the fun, however, is in getting there. "The Illusion" takes us into territory on which theater thrives: fantasy, witchcraft, transcended place and time. The entire play happens in Alcandre's cave, a forbidding place, watched over by Alcandre's sinister amanuensis and where Pridamant watches on the sidelines while Alcandre leads him through reconstituted events in his son's life. We watch the son fall in love with a woman above his station, kill one dandified suitor, fight a duel with another, marry the girl over her father's objections and the thwartings of her jealous maid. Truth or apparitions? We'll let you savor the surprises of the Corneille/Kushner ending. They're worth waiting for.
Starring Lizzie Purnell '15 and Zak Rosen '16, the play also features seniors Jack Maniscalco '15, Paige Sachwitz '15, AJ Gersh '15, and Chris Nguyen '15, as well as underclassmen Sam Agro '18, Alanna Sokoloff '16, and Jimmy Diamondidis '18.
So, there you have it, folks. Come out to Price Auditorium at 7PM from November 20-22 to see the Water Street Players' hilarious fall play!
