For some Staples seniors, the second semester means they’re into college and are lacking in many responsibilities. This is not the case for Charlotte Weber ’12.
Weber is directing the play, “Six Characters in Search for an Author,” which will be performed in the Black Box Theater on June 8 and 9.
The play is based around a family of six who carry inside of them a story of deep pain and anguish. They are desperate to come to life and have their story be told and insist that the director of a modern theater company “put on” their story. The setting is within a theater itself and deals with the relationships between directors, actors, characters, spectators and critics.
Rehearsals for the play started on April 30 and run until 5:30 p.m. each afternoon. Despite the fact that it is fourth quarter and the workload is tough at times, Sylvie Lexow ‘14, the costume designer and actress in the play, isn’t having trouble balancing schoolwork with rehearsal. “Our rehearsals give us a time restraint to do work and give us motivation to get all of our schoolwork done before it is time to go to bed,” she said.
For Weber, the whole process of directing this play started when she approached David Roth, the director of Staples Players, to let him know that she was interested in potentially directing one of Staples’ spring studios during the 2011-2012 school year.
After approaching Roth, Weber began the process of reading plays. “Six Characters in Search for an Author” happened to be the first one she picked up.
“It was captivating. I couldn’t put it down,” Weber said. “I read it straight through from cover to cover and have been thinking about the play ever since that day.”
The play was originally written in Italian by Luigi Pirandello in 1921. The English translation that Weber chose takes Pirandello’s story and integrates it with modern themes and ideas. Weber spent three months adapting the play to create a script that Weber said, “has never been produced before and will never be replicated.”
Despite the fact that the play will be performed the week before finals, Weber does not think that this will have an impact on the turnout or the stress level of her actors. Having been involved with two studios and many main stage shows, Weber has been working to take as much stress off her actors as she can by integrating as many technical elements into rehearsals as soon as possible.
Weber’s team includes Ryan Shea ’13 as assistant director, Matt Kresch ’13 as lighting designer, Jamie Yarmoff ’12 as producer and Madeline Seidman ’12 and Sylvie Lexow ’14 as costume designers.
“I have total faith in my cast members. I cast them because each one of them is smart, hard-working and reliable,” Weber said.
Lexow feels as though everyone really enjoys being around each other and wants to work off each others energy. “Charlotte and Ryan are amazing people to work with and are extremely dedicated to the production of this show,” she said.
Sydney Robinson, another actress in the show, also feels as if there has been a unique learning environment established for this play. “My favorite part about the show is getting to meet new people,” Robinson said. “They’re all really big doofuses and they make rehearsal a lot of fun.”
Weber is eager for the Westport community to be able to see all of her hard work. “This play means everything to me,” Weber said. “I have no doubt that we will put up a really powerful show.”
The time and ticket price are still being determined. Stay tuned to the Staples Players website for more details.
Cast List:
JEREMY- Emma Ruchefsky
CHRIS- Scott Yarmoff
SCOTT- Julia Green
ANTHONY- Parker Stackoff
JORDAN-Nathan Francis
KAREN-Faye Osgood
CHUCK- Joe Badion
LOUISA- Cara McNiff
WILL- Thomas Bonner
GREEK CHORUS:
Sarah Q.
Sarah Sawyer
Sarah Andros
Sofia Weinberg
Claire Sampson
FATHER- Nick Massoud
MOTHER- Sydney Robinson
STEPDAUGHTER- Grace McDavid-Seidner
LITTLE BOY- Michael Mathis
LITTLE GIRL- Shelby Cataldo
SON- Josh Popkin
EMILIO PAZ-Sylvie Lexow
