A touring show performed by the Theatre Magnet titled, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged” finished their tour with a performance at RHS for Senior AP English classes.
According to theater director Cliff McClelland, this is the first touring show that the magnet has put on since ex-theater teacher Jessica Carey directed and toured “School House Rock” in 2008. McClelland hopes that the show will serve as good publicity for the program.
“My goal is to draw more attention to the Theatre Magnet from other schools,” McClelland said. “We just want to get our name out there and let them know what we’re doing.”
Theater members say that a touring show comes with its fair share of difficulties.
“My problem was that I had already scheduled myself to direct ‘A Stepping off Place,’ and Ms. Rives [a former theatre teacher] was supposed to direct Shakespeare,” McClelland said. “However, she took a job at another school, and I didn’t want to burden our new teacher with something like this, and so I took on the touring show.”
However, difficulties in being a part of a traveling show were not confined to the director – many of the cast and crew members said they had hard times adjusting.
“It’s a lot more difficult being in a traveling play because you have to make changes in order to perform for the junior highs,” junior Raied Makhamreh said. “You have to change things that are appropriate for high school to become appropriate for junior high.”
Many of the actors like junior Melody Iro decided that adaptation was the key to a smooth performance in a show where actors are confronted with a completely different environment with every performance.
“It’s different,” senior Cody Dowell said. “You’re going to different places with a bunch of people you don’t know, on a different stage. You have to adapt to different stages and different audiences.”
Adapting to various environments was not the only issue the actors were faced with. All of the actors encountered roadblocks that made it difficult to perform, whether it was costume changes, or difficulties in learning lines. McClelland, however, was not concerned about the performances.
“No matter what, the actors will go on,” he said.
The technicians also had to learn how to adapt. They learned how to work with the resources and equipment available at each venue.
“The techies are amazing,” Melody said. “ I never really understood how hard their jobs were until now. Being in a show like this, depending so much on smooth tech work and seeing how well they were able to adapt to different places– it was incredible.”
When asked if more time would have improved the show, the cast and crew said that they were content with their performance.
“That’s like having 30 minutes for breakfast and preparing this great meal, and then saying ‘If I had just had 15 more minutes, I could have thrown in some waffles, you know?’” McClelland said. “You will never have enough time for perfection, but it’s in the imperfections that you find art and true beauty.”