prep theatre one act shows

With the third quarter coming to a close, the One-Act Performance class presented
their third production of the 2007-2008 school year. Typically these evenings consist
of a variety of short plays, but this evening was different. The students, wanting to
work on a more challenging piece, chose to put together a full-length play, “Beggar on
Horseback” by George S. Kauffman and Marc Connolly.

The students rehearsed though their 7th period class into the early afternoon. “It is
wonderful to see students who have a passion for theatre,” says Ms. Stone, the
instructor, “I think it is every teacher’s goal that their students don’t just regurgitate
information, but synthesize it and become active participants of their own education.
They wanted a challenge, they wanted greater creative input and they were willing to
put in the time in to accomplish that. It speaks volumes to their drive and maturity.”

In this play, Neil (Ian Woodwick), a poor but brilliant composer is faced with two
choices: marry the love of his life, Cynthia (Melody Chrispin) and live in poverty
forever, or marry his rich music pupil, Gladys (Rochelle Otto) and have the luxury of
time and money to write his symphony. From there, Neil launches into a nightmare
sequence in which he dreams what life as a wealthy man would be like: devoid of
artistic and spiritual value. In the end he awakes from the dream and decides that
love is more important than money.

Highlights include the “killing” of rich Gladys and her quirky family (Jamaal Knight,
Jessica Turner and Mike Murphy) with a pair of large scissors; a brief comic
pantomime featuring Heidi McFarland and Quentin Shoemaker; during the courtroom
scene in which Neil is tried for the murders of the Cady family a chair and performer
fell from the platform. Both chair and actor were fine and the show continued. “That’s
one of the amazing things about theatre—it’s live and anything can happen," said Ms.
Stone. "Our actor recovered brilliantly, no one was hurt and the audience recognized
the skill involved in covering such a mishap. You rehearse and rehearse and hope
nothing will happen, but it’s good to know that when there is an accident, your actors
are trained well enough to recover and carry on. I’m very proud of all of them.”

The show also featured Brittany Laidlaw, Alexis Green, Zach Klepper and Rebekah
Fine. “I can honestly say that we have never have a stronger ensemble cast,” exudes
Ms. Stone, “I cannot even in good faith say I directed this show. It was a wonderful
collaborative effort, which is one of the most gratifying things about theatre—the
shared creative process.”

An interesting fact about the play: the word “widget” was first used in “Beggar on
Horseback.” The term “widget” is often used in an economic context as a generic
placeholder name to indicate some manufactured good (i.e. The Acme Widget
Company). While the term widget is never clearly defined in the play, we understand
that it is a manufactured product with no artistic merits.

Privacy Policy
As a general rule, preptv does not post the last name of elementary students while identifying their participation in a school activity or promoting their accomplishment in Knowledge, Character,
and Leadership. Likewise preptv does not include any reference to a student in a posted jpeg or mpeg image file name. These precautions should eliminate parental concerns about a child being
identified as the result of an Internet search. However, in the event that a parent is uncomfortable with a posted text or image, preptv will remove the text or image upon notification.

Site design and maintenance by preptv.
All text, images, and designs are the property of preptv and may not be duplicated without permission.
Copyright 2005-2007 preptv.