By: Taylor Diedrich

What do aliens, spies, and five million dollars have to do with each other? In the Park production, My Son Is Crazy. . .But Promising, all of these subjects come together.

The Ritz-Apache Lodge is filled with crazy guests including Dimitri Jones and Suzan Claypool who are secret spies that live at the Ritz-Apache hotel to spy on a new military base, an old crazy lady, Cora, who believes she was on a spaceship and Gert Witherspoon, the owner, who did not know how to mess with Cora’s cookery. Bud Granger, an aspiring screenwriter, bought the rundown lodge when he found out about the treasure buried near by. Lawrence Lime, Bud’s producer, decided to ‘drop by’.  He thought the lodge was an insane asylum. However throughout the play, Bud runs into a little trouble when Oysters Rockefeller, a ganster, comes to Tumbleweed, Arizona. He and his fiancé Chi-Chi stop by to get a flight bag accidently mixed up with the Whitney’s, newlyweds who thought that the Ritz was from a famous chain hotel in Paris. On one stormy night Cora begins rambling about how aliens are coming back to earth, and she needs to prepare for the landing. Then suddenly there was an explosion! Dmitri and his partner were caught, and Sheriff Bates car was gone. The next day a surprise guest came in. Cora had won five million dollars in the state lottery!

This play was a major success! Congratulations directors, cast, and crew on putting on such a marvelous production!

                A lot of enthusiasm met Park High School’s performance of “Flaming Idiots”. First, on January 20 during the evening of One Acts hosted by East Ridge High School, audience members laughed uproariously at the show.  

                “It was ridiculously awesome,” grinned junior Logan Greene, “It was hilarious and far exceeded expectations.”  Other Park students, such as Nikki Soler and Ann Haering also agreed, saying that the performance was very funny.

                Then on January 26, Park performed the comedy in front of judges in the prelims, against Woodbury’s dramatic performance of “Crimes of the Heart” and East Ridge’s bleak play “Dracula.” At the end of the night, Park had received all ones from the judges, meaning that they had done the best. Therefore, the seven actors went into the section finals with some added confidence.

                The section finals took place on February 3 in Park’s auditorium.  These performances had increased pressure because whoever won would proceed to the State competition on February 11.  Park competed against Eagan and Tartan in the section finals, with the winner advancing to state. Unfortunately, Park received second place to Eagan’s “Aftermath”, which was a drama about an Iraqi family’s reaction to the war that was occurring in their country.

                “Eagan’s play was very good,” stated one anonymous audience member, “At one point an actor was asking the audience ‘Why did you kill my family?’ and I actually felt guilty. It was very moving. ”

                However, while “Flaming Idiots” did not make it to State, the cast has a lot of which to be proud.  The comedy was cast impeccably and the actors provided many laughs for the audience. Senior Erica Ashleson, who played a deaf cook, was excellent at portraying a humorous character by using only body language and facial expressions, senior Sam Salwasser was wonderful at dramatic entrances, exits, and poses, and Thomas Lankow was exceptional at being the naïve and somewhat dense sidekick. The entirety of the cast shared a good amount of laughs and represented Park very well despite the title of “Flaming Idiots.”

               With only two months to prepare and two productions to perfect by December 13, the theatre department was very busy. Unfortunately, it appeared that the large task was too much for the department to handle, ultimately producing two mediocre shows in comparison to the average excellent performances. Yet while the shows were not necessarily noteworthy, the impact of the theatre is increasing in the school, for the number of students involved was tremendous. Therefore, after two months of hard work produced by a dedicated cast, the assembly performed two shows on December 13^th, one at 1 PM and the other at 5 PM.

                The show began with Alice in Wonderland, starring junior Brittany Eckes as innocent Alice. The hour long performance directed by Ms. Ball included many of the elements that made Alice in Wonderland so imaginative such as the Mad Hatter’s love for tea parties, the mischievous Cheshire Cat played by Dalton Schank, and the obnoxious Queen of Hearts followed loyally by her band of cards screaming “Off with their heads!” However, overall the play was extremely chaotic and difficult to follow. Since the production had to be downsized due to timing, the scene changes occurred without any obvious change in scenery, thus characters seemed to be constantly running on and off the stage with no real purpose. Also, there were so many characters that no development of anyone was breached because the amount of time that they were showcased was extremely limited. Yet the characters that were continually included, such as Cody Klipsic and Dorsey Sprouls as the Mad Hatter and the March Hare brought humor to the show and were seen as favorites at the end of the performance since they were given the opportunity to be developed.

                After a short intermission, the collection of plays continued with Pinocchio. The Disney classic, which starred Mike Soto as Pinocchio and was directed by A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mrs. Caponigri, was a shorter play and only lasted about forty five minutes. This colorful production was much more interactive with the audience, including a scene where Geppetto, played by senior Zach Butler, addressed the audience to help him collect Pinocchio’s school books, which were placed under audience members seats during intermission. The piece included many of the scenes that made Pinocchio a classic as well, such as the marionettes, which were played by students whose lips moved almost in perfect synch to their respective puppeteers, the whale made up of cast members, and also Hickory Cricket who called for help from the audience via chirps.  

                Generally, the Chamber Theatre’s double feature proved to be an adequate opportunity for students to experience theater. The expansion of the theater department highlights the growth in the school and provided new stars for later productions. Ultimately, the Park High School’s season of dreams continued with a positive note and ought to continue to provide entertainment for the rest of the season.

Picture Drawn by Samantha Langenfeld (12th grade)

             Park High School’s production of the play, directed by Tracy Caponigri, was a wonderful representation of Shakespeare’s classic comedy. The lead roles were played by senior Jasmine Branum as Hermia, junior Logan Greene as Lysander, junior Alex Dean as Demetrius, and senior Erica Ashelson as Helena. All the actors did a marvelous job of bringing their characters to life. Logan’s intensity and passionate acting made him a believable lover. Erica portrayed Helena’s unrequited love for Demetrius convincingly and in a comical way. Other actors that stood out for their exceptional performances were junior Brittany Affolter as Snug playing a cute, but rather absurd lion, and junior Sylvia Lowry as Puck, Oberon’s mischievous and clever servant. The last scene of the play, when Quince and his actors perform their “tragedy”, had the audience laughing hysterically in their seats with particularly amusing and entertaining performances from senior Sandra Yang as Bottom playing Pyramus and freshman Lucas Lindstrom as Flute playing Thisbe. Laughter erupted from the audience when Lucas appeared wearing a dress and squeaking out his lines.

            The actors left the audience with a better understanding of the play. It was clear which scenes Shakespeare intended to be humorous. Also, when the play ended, the audience was able to see the questions the play proposes about life. Through Oberon’s interference in Bottom’s and the young lover’s lives, the audience is left to wonder whether there is such thing as fate or destiny and ponder the idea of life itself being a play. Overall, the show was fantastic and the whole cast did an outstanding job.

The entire cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream

Written By  Sarah Beck