Curtains rise tonight at 7 p.m. for the Production 2-4 class’ final show, “The Sugar Bean Sisters,” written by Nathan Sanders. The show runs through Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Black Box theater.
“I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll tell you – it’s about aliens, reptiles, Mormons and murder,” junior and actress portraying Faye Clementine Nettles, Thienn Peterson said. “I really like that I get to do a thick Southern accent and I really like that it’s such a small cast, because we’re all so close, that it’s exclusive, almost. I like how energetic the show is.”
The show is student-cast, directed and run.
“Our teacher, [Campbell Duncan], said ‘hey, however y’all want to cast it, you can,’” Peterson said. “Normally this would be a nightmare scenario, because of the competition in theater, but we are all so close, and we all wanted very distinct roles that we all ended up getting the role we wanted. We’ve been able to experiment and add our own little bits because of that. It has been really fun to be so hands-on. We are all very involved, and I think that’s what makes us so enthusiastic about this show.”
The show is free for all audience members.
“Something that’s been hard for me with this show has been settling into Miss Sparks because she is so different from me and is much older,” sophomore and actress portraying Videllia Sparks, Paige Newman said. “The characters have southern accents, though, which has helped me get into the play and character, especially because doing a southern accent is really fun for me.”
With the beginning of Advanced Placement season exam, student performers must balance the show and exams.
“I’ve worked to tackle both this show and my AP World History exam by making sure I’m using my class time to the fullest potential so that I can limit the load in the evening,” Newman said. “My commitment has dipped a bit because of APs, but I really like this show and I’m super excited for next year’s shows, so it’s given me something to keep striving for.”
The production class began rehearsals on April 20 and have spent three weeks running lines, building sets, pulling costumes and dialing lights.
“The hardest part about putting on this show was how quickly we had to get it all together,” sophomore and actress portraying Willie Fae Nettles, Gracie Gundy said. “We ended our one act season relatively recently and we got straight into this show. Because time is limited and with all my other classes going on, we had to learn and memorize the whole show very quickly while getting all of our tech elements together efficiently. I’m a little tired from the constant shows, but I’m having so much fun with this silly show that I am putting everything I have left into this last performance of the year.”
The show, set in the Florida Everglades, was one of two plays the production class chose from, the other being Mark Bucci’s “The Diary of Adam and Eve,” a comedic stage adaptation of Mark Twain’s short story.
“When watching the show, it’s really important to not choose sides of the characters because you never know what they’re going to do next,” Peterson said. “Someone who you think is a hero might not end up as a hero, and someone who you think is a villain might not end up as a villain. It’s very gray. Even though it’s a comedy with extravagant characters, they are still three dimensional.”
The set for Sanders’ Southern Gothic show went up within the past week.
“I really love the absurdity of the whole show,” Gundy said. “You never really know what these crazy sisters will do and even if you think you do know what will happen, these characters do the complete opposite. People should come for some aliens and some crazy circumstances.”
