Colony High School presents ‘The Glass Menagerie’

PALMER — After a month and a half of preparation, Colony High students are ready to perform “The Glass Menagerie,” a memory play rooted in tragedy. This is the first play of Colony’s season. The play only has a total of four actors on stage with an unseen character, who is only mentioned. Rather than propelling with grand action scenes or musical numbers, this story focuses heavily on dialogue and the four individuals’ charter arc. In the last week of dress rehearsals, four actors and the crew prepared for their opening night, which is Friday at 7 p.m.

The play is directed by Colony High Alumni and current drama teacher Dina Sawyer. The cast includes Steven Sutcliffe (15) as Jim O’Connor, Aidan Barnett (17) as Tom Wingfield, Hannah Holtz (16) as Amanda Wingfield, and Grace Eldridge (16) plays Laura Wingfield. Written by Tennessee Williams in 1944, the story follows a young man (Tom,) an aspiring poet that reluctantly comes to aid his family after his father abandoned them. He returns to his bitter and pained mother (Amanda), a faded Southern belle who wishes to return the family to a familiar comfort and pushes her daughter to get married. The daughter (Laura), has what her old high-school acquaintance (Jim) calls, “an inferiority complex.” She’s painfully shy and somewhat crippled and spends much of her time escaping reality with her collection of glass animals. Set with a Great Depression backdrop, the characters struggle with their past, present and future memories and the story ends on a dreary note.

Aside from the student led productions, this is the first time a play of this small of cast has hit the main stage at Colony. According to longtime drama teacher Brian Mead, the decision was to adjust to the marching band’s trip to New York for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as most of the drama students are also in the band. There auditions were narrowed down to only students who were not in marching band, which added up to about eight students for the four roles. Everyone involved with the production said this play has been a totally different experience compared to anything they’ve been in before.

Holtz plays the mother, Amanda Wingfield. Now a junior, Holtz has been in every Colony High production, except one, since she was a freshman. She said this was her biggest role with the smallest cast. Holtz fell into drama through her love of music and is now smitten with the art of acting. She explained that ironically, she has “really bad stage fright,” as herself, yet when she becomes another character, that melts away and she performs with confidence.

Although she wasn’t particularly involved in the Drama Club’s council last year, she has since taken on a lot more responsibilities after being appointed as the acting president. She explained that the Drama Council is much like the student council, “only on a smaller scale.” Instead of governing the entire school, the Drama Council operates as the body of the group, raising funds, gathering costumes and materials, promoting their productions and engages in community outreach. Working with her fellow drama students has been an enriching experience for Holtz. She admitted to being shy as a freshman but grew as person after being taken under the wing of the seniors at the time. She said that over time, she’s gained a close bond with other drama students and formed strong friendships.

“There’s something about sharing the stage or sharing a project that really brings people together,” Holtz said.

This play with such a small cast had students working very closely with each other. Everyone said that the focus was much more on the characters than the plot. Holtz said her role is challenging, but she likes the challenge.

“I have to be hateful to people who are my best friends,” Holtz said.

Eldridge plays the bashful daughter, Laura Wingfield. She said this play is very different from anything she’s done before. She said that to prepare for her role, she would try to think like Laura. She admitted that some of her character’s mannerisms have temporarily rubbed off on her, when she finds herself ringing her hands when talking to people. This sort of character exploration is what Eldridge loves about acting. “I love being new people,” Eldridge said. “I just really love being on stage. I want to do this forever.”

Stage manager Kurtis Bushay is trying a new role himself. This is the first time he has taken on this role off the stage and calling the shots. Behind the scenes, he juggles many duties: helping with the set-up, design and painting, calling all the cues with light, sound and the curtain, and “getting Miss Sawyer coffee.”

“That’s the most important thing,” Sawyer laughed.

Sawyer is proud of the dedication and hard work her drama students put into this production. She said that her students have really pulled together and are going make a big splash this weekend.

The premiere show is Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. They will also perform Oct. 20 and 21 as well. All shows will be at the theater in Colony High School. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults.