Greenfield-Central students work on their lines as others watch from home via the internet during a recent rehearsal of their production of “Play On.”
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD – If ever there was an appropriate title for Greenfield-Central Drama, “Play On” might be it.
Rehearsing for hours after school daily? Play on. Practicing two plays at once and placing second a statewide contest? Play on. Overcome obstacles of a global pandemic to follow their passions? Play on.
Thespians take to the stage this weekend with the production of comedy “Play On,” and director Carolyn Voigt said she couldn’t be more proud of her students. As a cast of 10 and a crew of 50 rehearsed “Play On” this winter, many of the students were still rehearsing their play from the fall, “Any Body For Tea,” because they advanced to a state competition with the technical design of the set.
Double the work has been a fun challenge for her students, and Voigt said the wacky comedy of “Play On” is just the thing to entertain a crowd. She encourages family, friends and community members to support the students who have put in so much effort into their craft.
“They’ve got so much dedication for this department,” Voigt said. “I’m just incredibly lucky to be able to work with students who care about succeeding, doing their best and putting their all into their performance.”
“Play On” tells the story of a community theater troupe that is putting on a show and rehearsing it just two days before opening night. It’s been fun, Vogt said, to coach her students to act like actors, purposely making blunders for the sake of the script.
“There is quite a bit of complexity in learning the show for the students because when they’re learning their lines, they learn their lines as the actors messing up their lines and then getting it right,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun. Challenging, but a lot of fun.”
Senior Leah Olin has the role of director of “Play On” and has been having fun acting nervous, on edge and demanding of her counterparts. It’s like a play within a play, she said.
“I’ve never had any role like it. It’s really awesome,” she said.
The last two years the department has learned to overcome obstacles of a global pandemic, always rehearsing with masks, occasionally missing a student due to illness or quarantine but still trying to include them through a podcaster.
It’s just proven the resilience of the students, Voigt said.
“It was a learning curve for some, yet we passed that learning curve last year,” she said. “Now they are excellently alert and can smoothly jump in and keep rehearsing with us. When they are back in person, they jump right in as if they were with us physically the whole time.”
And the students have proven their dedication through continuing to rehearse and improve for a statewide competition. Their show from the fall, “Any Body for Tea” advanced in a regional competition for technical design. They learned from the judge’s comments and over the last few months had been subtly improving their performance, Voigt said, from a change in prop placement to a tweak in how a line is delivered to garner a bigger laugh. Perhaps the greatest challenge was adapting to theater space that is completely unique, calling on a whole new set of skills from her students.
Last weekend, they took their fall show back to the stage for the International Thespian Society’s state competition, held at Indiana Wesleyan University. They placed second in the props challenge thanks to Meadow Duncan and Keaton McCarley, Voigt said, and also attended many workshops like stage combat, costume rendering, improvisation and more.
The fun whirlwind of the stage competition complete, they can now focus solely on nailing their performance of “Play On” this weekend.
It’s a fun show for people of all ages to come and see, said junior Trey Smith, assistant director of the play.
“There’s a lot of funny moments and I think people of all ages can find humor in it,” he said.
Voigt said the show would probably be rated PG, and encourages the community to come support the students. While she fully expects her cast and crew to perform well, the antics of the script will prevail.
“I think anyone who has ever been in a show would find it really fun, but anybody who would like to watch something crash and burn would have fun,” she said.
If you go
What: “Play On” presented by Greenfield Central Drama
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 28 and 29; 2 p.m. Jan. 30
Where: Greenfield-Central High School
Tickets: $8 for adults, $6 for students at gcdrama.org or at the door
