Park Theater performed its spring play, Ashgirl, from April 23-25. It was the final show of the school year, and therefore many seniors’ last theater production of their high school career. The story of Ashgirl is a retelling of Cinderella, but with an added element of the Seven Deadly Sins. The story follows a young girl whose sole responsibility is being a servant to her family. She wishes to be like her stepsisters and go to the ball, but they do not deem her worthy enough. She also has to face her internal demons, which attempt to invade her mind and convince her she’s not good enough. Eventually, she finds the strength within herself to attend the ball with the Prince.
Junior and lead role actress Asha Ferran-Sapatnekar said she enjoyed meeting and working with fellow cast and crew members. She said the set and costumes of the ball transformation scene were her favorites.
“I really liked meeting new people and being with all the amazing people in theater,” Ferran-Sapatnekar said. “I thought the ball transformation scene was very interesting, how the set design and the costume design turned out.”
Senior and crew member Jillian Dixon said she enjoyed the whimsical aspect of Ash Girl. She said the production was successful in its sound system, allowing her to experiment with new sound effects.
“My favorite part of working on the show (was) getting to do something really whimsical, which has been fun,” Dixon said. “(We) finally figured out what sound system would be a good solution, after going through a dozen or so systems, and I got to do a lot of new sound effects.”
Theater director Jodi Schifsky said she helps plan the vision for shows, but it’s mostly left up to students. She said shows involve configuring technical elements such as costumes, sets, lights and sounds, and determining how they make up the production.
“As with any show, there are all sorts of technical and performance elements that you have to plan ahead,” Schifsky said. “(Ash Girl) had some fantasy elements, including animals and sins that needed masks and animal costumes, (which) was (an) added layer that was a challenge to our tech crew.”
Ferran-Sapatnekar said the production required lots of effort from the cast and crew. She said consolidating all of the separate elements was the most challenging.
“I hope we did a good job executing (the production) because we all put a lot of work into it, and I hope it paid off,” Ferran-Sapatnekar said. “I think the hardest part was just piecing everything together in order to make a whole show in the end.”
Dixon said the production had lots of impressive and stunning set pieces. She said being a part of theater entails moments of uncertainty, but the crew perseveres throughout.
“We did an incredible job on the set,” Dixon said. “The set design was amazing; we had 16-foot-tall, full trees and a lot of good set pieces. It was stressful because theater is always stressful; there are moments where we think we’re going to fall apart, but we don’t.”
Schifsky said her favorite characters were the sins due to their individuality and uniqueness. She said she was impressed with how the characters came to life through the cast members who played them.
“I really thought the sins were cool and unique,” Schifsky said.“ “Because first of all, who gets to play sins in a play ever? We had characters that were sins and animals: Slothworm, (Glutton)toad and Envysnake. I thought it was really cool to see those characters come to life in how they were physically portrayed, how the actors vocalize those contrasting ideas.”
Ferran-Sapatnekar said her character had the exciting opportunity to go to the ball in her life as a servant. She said she sees herself in the character due to their shared positive outlook on life.
“I played Ash Girl; she’s like the Cinderella in the story, and she starts poor and working, but she eventually goes to a ball, and it’s very exciting,” Ferran-Sapatnekar said. “I think she’s a very positive person, and so am I. Also, our names are quite similar.”
Dixon said the year’s final production is an emotional time for students, especially seniors, due to the strong community they’ve built throughout the years. She said the company has meaningful traditions during the year to bid farewell to seniors.
“(The last show of the year entails) a lot of emotions because you spend so much of your life there,” Dixon said. “I care so much about this theater; It’s bittersweet (and) sad because you’re leaving and you’re not gonna see them again. We have a tradition of “Senior Sail Away,” where everyone stands in a circle on stage, and the seniors share love into the space. The one at the end of the year is the one that hurts the most, and everyone is crying.”
Schifsky said the final production is especially bittersweet this year due to the large senior presence in theater. She said this year’s seniors have been very driven in helping restore the program since the pandemic, and their departure will be emotional, but promising days lie ahead.
“(The final show is) always bittersweet because we have so many seniors,” Schifsky said. “In particular, this year, we have a huge senior class that’s really been a powerhouse, coming back from COVID when we were rebuilding the program, and it’s always hard to see them go, but exciting to see the new talent that’s coming up next year too.”
