Theater Department unfurls fall, winter line-up
Every fall, the ARHS Theater Company, advised by Performing Arts Department Head John Bechtold, prepares to present a fall play in the auditorium.
Auditions are held a few weeks after the new school year begins, giving returning students and incoming freshmen a chance to express their talents. “I just love the theater community. I like to act, but mostly do plays to work with other excited and engaged people,” said ninth grader Dot Warren.
The Theater Company produces and performs up to four shows a year, with seats always packed with diverse audiences, and the group is not afraid to take on challenging plays or musicals like “Fun Home” last spring. “Fun Home” centered on writer and creator Alison Bechdel’s ”discovery of her lesbian sexuality, her relationship with her closeted gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life,” according to Wikipedia.
This year, they will kick off the year with an immersive show called “Wearenowhere” running from October 16 to October 18, each night, with a show at 7 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m. each night. “Wearenowhere” is an original immersive production about “a group of bus passengers who take shelter during a tornado warning. But somehow, there is now one more person than there was [at first] on the bus.”
This immersive production requires audience interaction, which makes it a unique experience for both the audience and the actors on the stage. You can find more information about the shows on Eventbrite- ARHS Theater Company.
The actors have been meeting five days a week, leading up to opening night. For those who didn’t join the Theater Company in time for this show, Warren said it’s not too late. “Anyone can audition for shows,” she said. “The main thing for people is [making] the time commitment.”
After that, they will work on a show called “Radium Girls,” set to premiere in December. The play, written by D.W. Gregory, is based on the true story of the female watch dial painters in the 1920s who fell ill and died due to their exposure to radium, and eventually, the ones who fought for justice.
“Radium Girls” will run from December 4 to December 6 with shows at 7:30 each night.
Bechtold has been in charge of the Theater Company since 1999, producing an endless run of unique plays and giving the actors, dancers, and stage crew an open field to express a little bit of themselves.
“We are in an era where we are fed and given so many ideas by others,” said Bechtold, who noted that theater provides a “real sense of self, of being in community with others and having a creative spirit.”
When not teaching at ARHS during the year, Bechtold also runs theater camps at Deerfield Academy each summer. Campers learn how to overcome stage fright and use their voice to tell a story.
Bechtold said he loves supporting students in theatrical and musical productions. Not only are there students on stage making the shows come to life, but tech, lighting, and stagecraft crews behind the scenes bringing magic to life with their hard work and dedication.
