Director's Notes
I've been involved with theater in Montgomery ever since I joined the district 15 years ago. All that time was spent, though, at the middle school level, and all in the realm of musical theater. But I've always wanted to try directing at the high school level, and so when the opportunity arose to direct the MHS Fall Play I was very excited to seize it.
As it happened, though, this was a new experience for me for more reasons than just the fact that my cast was old enough that I had to consider their work schedules when planning rehearsals. Like other theater directors around the country, I now had to figure out a way to adapt our production to a fully online format. Fortunately, I didn't need to start from scratch. Qui Nguyen had already adapted his award-winning play She Kills Monsters into a virtual edition, so I knew that we would be able to present it in this format while still honoring the author's intent.
And in this case, there is much to honor. While on the surface this play is an adventure story with a D&D theme, there is so much depth and heart underneath. The play teaches us about accepting others for who they are; about not judging others without really knowing them; about finding the courage to love who you love and be who you are; and about the power of both family and friendship.
From day one, the cast has been unafraid to dig into these issues and ideas fully and honestly. It's been such a pleasure and an honor ot work with this exceptional group of students. There are some cast members who I've known since they were fifth graders at LMS (or even before); there are some who I've never actually met in person outside of our Zoom rehearsals. But it's been so gratifying to get to know (or beter know) these performers and to see the way they have grown and challenged each other throughout the rehearsal process.
Likewise, the production team was a mixture of old and new for me. I've worked with Jason Orbe since HE was a fifth grader at LMS and I knew that while the challenges of a live streamed show were somewhat different than the ones he usually faces as an A/V Director, he would rise to the occasion, and he has done so amazingly. But while I've known Peter and his work for a few years I'd never worked with him before, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect at first. (When I told him we would have our first production meeting over Google Meet he responded with "I don't know how to do that, but I did do a Zoom call once...") However, he has become a virtual theater expert in spite of himself, and he's led his crew to come up with an amazing mixture of old-fashioned hand-made props and cutting-edge digital design. While the role of the "stage crew" is certainly different for this show than it usually is, you will see (and hear) the fruits of their creativity and hard work all throughout the show.
I'd like to offer thanks to Adam Warshafsky, the MTSD administration, and the Board of Education for having the foresight to approve a virtual theater production, without knowing exactly what the result would end up being! I'd also like to thank Paul Popadiuk, Scott Pachuta, and the Montgomery High School administration for their support (though I admit I have not actually set foot in MHS throughout this process!). And finally, I'd like to offer special thanks to Tara Handschin for her many years of service and dedication to Montgomery High School theater. The strength of the program she has built made it very easy for me to step in even in these strangest of circumstances.
As Agnes says... Let's do this!
David J. Gordon
Director
