Director’s Note—Ghostlight
Ghostlight by Stephen Gregg was developed in 2019 with the help of students and staff from Burbank High School in Burbank, California. Mr. Gregg has published more than twenty plays for the intended use of high schools, including his wildly popular One Act play, This is a Test, which first premiered in 1988. When the website was burgeoning, Mr. Gregg filled his then Twitter, now X, account (@playwrightnow) with useful tips for aspiring playwrights. The tips are still available online for all to partake. In other words, he is a playwright and an educator and understands the kinds of stories and methods that will engage high school students and audiences.
This play follows the central character with the weird name, Garbiela Nettles, as she reluctantly enrolls in Doves Forge Academy, the most prestigious private school in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Garbiela seems like a fish out of water at the school, but soon finds connections to the school she didn’t anticipate, but must make sense of. The title and a main element of the play call on the theatre tradition of having a ghost light, “a single bulb left burning whenever the theatre is dark. Some argue that its function is to chase away mischievous spirits; others insist it lights the way for the ghosts that are said to inhabit virtually every theatre, keeping them happy and contented” (Playbill Magazine, 2008). The title of the play is apt in that the play involves all the lore around that single bulb.
We are proud to present this quirky and unusual show to you. The over 50 students involved have pulled together to make their best performance possible. I am personally very proud of continuing my association with such incredible students whose passion for the arts and overall kindness radiates wherever they go. Wheaton High School is lucky to have them, and I am lucky to know them.
--Jessica Speck
About Our Director
Jessica Speck is enjoying her 27th year as a teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools. Over that time, she has directed dozens of plays and musicals and sponsored countless student-directed productions at four MCPS High Schools. She is a triple-certified teacher of Theatre, Mathematics and English. Over the years, she has taught every Theatre course offered in MCPS, all levels of math, ninth, tenth and eleventh grade English and many other courses as needed. In addition to her classroom duties, Mrs. Speck is the lead teacher for the Global Studies Academy. Mrs. Speck is most proud of her two non-theatre productions, a college senior named Liv and Wheaton senior Ivy that are shining brightly on stage and off with the incredible support and love from her husband, Jason Speck.
