By Holly Dayton ‘13, Lens Section Editor
This year, the CCDS Theater Department is experiencing a British invasion; both the Fall Play and the Winter Musical are British-period dramas. The Importance of Being Earnest will grace the stage this October, and a week later auditions will begin for the winter musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. So why will the theater kids be talking with British accents for five months straight?
Mr. Mark Femia, Head of the Theater Department, began his Master’s program two years ago and was required to do intensive research for a show he would eventually direct. He chose The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a show he had been familiar with for over 15 years, to be his thesis show. Femia is required to write a series of analyses and summaries of technical work, as well as form diagrams and conduct research. For every rehearsal he will have to write a full report on how he plans to use make use of his time and how much progress was made during rehearsal. Femia, however, isn’t the only one who is going to have to do more work than usual. The students will be required to create character notebooks and cultivate properly “low” British accents.
Drood has multiple potential endings, and to put it on successfully is a major artistic challenge. The difficult nature of the show is why auditions were so early this year; Femia intends to teach all of the music before Winter Break so staging can begin as soon as students return in January.
As for the Fall Play, Femia has been considering Earnest since the spring, when he saw that it was a Summer Reading book. The summer classes he took in period directing and dress swayed Femia in favor of Oscar Wilde’s classic play.
“It was on the short list,” said Femia, “and after classes this summer I knew it was the one.”
The idea of putting
on a classic was another draw for Femia, who has put on more and more classic shows over the past few years like The Crucible (2010) and The Music Man (2012).
As for both shows being British, Femia simply laughed and said, “it’s just a coincidence.”
Original image courtesy of: http://maressa.edublogs.org/2009/12/11/the-importance-of-being-earnest/
