Director’s Notes

Welcome to Live Theatre!!! I have to confess the thought of seeing real people in the auditorium during the show makes me feel giddy inside. Although we were able to stream shows last year, performing in front of a camera is not even in the same category as playing to a live audience. In live theatre there is an energy exchange that happens between performer and audience that cannot be replicated in the virtual world. It creates a rush of excitement much like the electricity in the stadium during a World Series game.

That is not to say live theatre does not come with its own set of idiosyncrasies. During virtual performances last year, scenes that were less than perfect could be redone, voices that were not quite loud enough could be mechanically made louder, the glitches that come with performances could be edited out of the final production. This year things are different – students learned performances are a one-shot deal. No re-dos, no Mulligans, no do-overs – each performance is what they make of it.  It is important to note that the last actual performance before a live audience was our public performance of our 2019 contest show Rising; this is long before most of the current students were involved with this theatre program.

Like Rising, our current show Cheaters is not the type of show normally performed by a middle school. According to Don Zolidis, the playwright, it was inspired in part by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. It is a play that speaks to a search for the truth, an understanding of for each person of his/her character, and the importance of standing up for what you believe. The students in this show have come to believe one of the most important lessons in theatre – we are in this together and need to think and work as a team.  We succeed together and we fail together; therefore, it is important to reach out and help anybody struggling with lines or hair or make-up or nerves – it is what we do. Not only an important lesson for theatre, but also an important lesson for life.

--P. Matanic

When I select a show for students in MTC, I think about what types of stories are not only relevant, but what would give our performers and technicians a great challenge.  I selected Fire Exit last spring, months before the dreaded “devious licks” of Tik Tok reared its ugly head.

Presenting a show that has become somewhat more timely than originally thought has its benefits.  Not only do we get the chance to discuss how the story compares to what we are dealing with in real time but we also get to examine potential outcomes of such behavior.

And that’s one of the amazing things about theatre.  It allows us to explore stories in a temporary, pretend environment to examine the people, emotions, and consequences of the characters’ actions.  Lest you think that high school students playing high school students is an easy job, it is not.  Finding the right balance between developing the stock character without becoming a caricature is not easy.

Our technicians are not to be overlooked either.  Though there are not many technical elements in this show, the finesse with which lighting and sound cues must be even more closely attended to.  They have likewise impressed me with their work.

I am so proud of the work these young people have done.  And I am excited to present this in competition next month at Hobart!  Thank you for coming!

--R. Palasz