Each year Park’s theater program participates in the One-Act play, performing against other schools in a section competition. Due to the auditorium being closed down, they have had to hold practice in C350 at Park, causing issues with limited rehearsal space. “A Trip to the Moon” is the play that has been chosen to be showcased.
According to theater director Jodi Schifsky, the auditorium being closed hasn’t been convenient. However, the cast and crew have adapted to the new space. She said outside sources have also been a help to the productivity of the play.
“It hasn’t been ideal, but we’ve managed to make it work because we’ve had a lot of people, the cast and crew, but also adults in the district, have really stepped up,” Schifsky said. “So we can be as productive as possible in the multiple spaces.”
According to junior costume manager Freya Flink, in preparation for the costumes they have been investigating the time period of the show. Specifically, 60s and early 70s clothing have been the highlight of their research. She said prior to the research they didn’t know much about that era of clothing.
“I’ve been doing a ton of research on the 60s, especially since it’s going into the 70s, so it’s less formal and more hippie,” Flink said. “I didn’t know much about it before and looking at movies with the moon landing.”
Schifsky said using C350 isn’t idealistic for moving around and the use of the set and props. She said when they’re just sitting and going through scripts and costumes, C350 is a good practice area but later on they will need to move to a larger area.
“C350 is great as a meeting space when we’re just sitting and reading and discussing but it’s hard to get up on our feet,” Schifsky said. “It’s really important that we have a bigger space where we can move and use our set pieces.”
Junior Libi Ackerman said she enjoys her scene partners, and even though rehearsals are just starting she is very eager. She said she’s also thrilled for people to watch the performance and for the cast to start blocking.
“It’s the second rehearsal but I’m really excited. I really like my scene partners. We have a really good time both on and off stage,” Ackerman said. “Hyped for people to see it and can’t wait to actually start block.”
Flink said a complication that they have faced is the lack of 60s costumes. Another difficulty that the costume managers have had to deal with is the smaller budget, but to save the budget they’re creating props and costumes from different eras.
“We do not have a ton of 60s stuff in the costumes room, and we have a very low budget,” Flink said. “So, it’s more making things look like they could be from the 60s rather than the 2010s.”
According to Schifsky, the cast was able to voice their liking of which kind of roles they wanted. This was then incorporated into the audition process. She said they were able to find roles that really suit the actors.
“I think we really were able to put actors in roles that fit them. They got to preference what types of roles they would want,” Schifsky said. “We did that at the audition, and then I think everybody so far is a really good fit.”
Ackerman said the auditorium being unusable makes the theater program feel like they don’t have a home or a place. Theater is like a tight-knit family that doesn’t have a space where they belong currently with the absence of Parks auditorium.
“Theater is always like a big family and right now we’re a family that doesn’t have a place,” Ackerman said. “I know that this is a community where they come to feel like they belong, and it’s hard to feel like you belong to the group when the group doesn’t feel like it belongs in the school.”
Park’s theater program has limited actors that are participating in the One-Act play this year. According to Flink, it’s going to be hard to differentiate the characters since there are 40 characters but only 18 actors.
“There’s around 40 characters, so it’s going to be difficult to differentiate because there’s only 18 actors,” Flink said.
The One-Act play is being shown Jan. 19-21 at Park’s middle school auditorium. The section competition is being held at the Richfield high school Jan. 25.
