This year’s spring play, Treasure Island,
debuted on Thursday evening, May 4, and included
follow-up performances on Friday, May
5 and Saturday, May 6. By all accounts, the production
was an overwhelming success. The Jagwire
had the opportunity to talk with some of
the students who participated in the production
to fully understand what Treasure Island was really
about and how the show was brought to the
stage.
Treasure Island begins with a small boy,
Jim Hawkins, played by McKenzie Wolsey (11),
who works at an inn with his mother. His father
had died a short while earlier. One night a pirate
walks into the inn and changes Jim’s life forever
by entrusting him with a map that leads to “hundreds
of thousands, in gold and silver and pearly
trinkets”. Jim and his friends go out to sea to find
it, but the crew mutinies and Long John Silver,
a surrogate father and a man who Jim comes to
trust, betrays Jim to get to the treasure, In the
end, however, Silver shows how much he actually
cares for the boy and saves his life.
Ms. Beth De Marco, who teaches theatre,
is responsible for bringing the whole production
together, with the help of stage manager
Kimberly Eastridge (12). De Marco was
their director, set designer, and inspiration and
Kimberly made sure her vison for them and the
whole show transferred to the stage.
“The process from auditioning to opening
night was grueling, but well worth it,” said
McKenzie. The cast started by memorizing lines,
the hard part was remembering when to actually
say them. After finally memorizing they moved on to incorporating blocking, or movement on
the stage during a scene.”
One unique feature of Treasure Island the
actors experienced was the fight choreography
they learned. The cast had a professional stage
combat actor from Synetic Theater, Vato Tsikurishvili,
come in and show them properly how to
wield a sword, die onstage, and jump off eightfoot
platforms.
The cast and tech team had been planning
and constructing the set of the pirate ship
since February. Another part of the play was
the costuming. Thankfully they had the help of
Whitney Redding, who helped sew and organize
costumes for the past couple years. The sound
and lighting brought the whole show together.
Stephanie Murphy (10) was the sound designer
and operator during the show. They also had the help from FCHS alumnus Max Warasila (Class
of 2015) who aided in the lighting design featuring
beautiful hues of crimson and verdant
green, which really brought the whole story of
Jim Hawkins to life.
“I felt bittersweet about the performance.
On one hand, it was such a wonderful
show to play my first lead role, especially alongside
Patrick Kearny (10) as Long John Silver.
On the other, however, it will be my last performance
with the Falls Church Drama Department,
because I’m moving over the summer.
I’ll never forget this cast and crew, though,” said
McKenzie.
Overall, Treasure Island was definitely
a success, and the cast and crew had a hardworking
but ultimately fun time bringing this
classic production to the stage.