After the spectacular musical “The Addams Family” in early November, Friends is once again ready to begin another play coming mid January, 2020. That’s right, the Student Run Production is coming quite soon! 

     This play is going to be quite different from “The Addams Family”. Rather than Mrs. Butterfield and Mrs. Gaines directing it, the Student Run Production (as the name implies) will be led by upper school students Casey Tyler ‘20 and Abby Vandenbrul ‘20. The play they are directing is called “Almost, Maine” written by John Cariani. “Almost, Maine” is relatively new, as it first premiered at the Portland Stage Company in 2004 in Portland, Maine. 

     “The show is comprised of 9 short scenes about some aspect of love. They all take place in the same town at the same time,” says Abby Vandenbrul ‘20, a senior at Wilmington Friends with a passion for stage managing. This play is a smaller scale production in comparison to “The Addams Family”, so most of the cast will recycled in several, if not all of the scenes. “We had 10 people try out, so it will be smaller than Addams Family production-wise as well.” says Casey Tyler ‘20, who has acted in most plays and musicals throughout his time as an upper schooler. 

     Having a Student Run Production is a great way for aspiring directors to showcase their talents and to see the challenges of running such a big production like this. Choosing a popular play that has already been directed by other high schools allows for the student directors to draw upon what older directors have done. This experience will also help grow their leadership skills by having them work on something that will be seen by an audience, rather than a school project that might only be viewed by a teacher. 

      Having a Student Run Production is also a great opportunity for aspiring actors. The student actors will have to learn how to follow directions from someone other than a figure of authority, helping them grow in how they can collaborate with others, regardless of the leaders’ age. Also, because of the limited number of actors in this upcoming production, actors who didn’t get a leading part in “The Addams Family” this year will finally get a chance at acting in a lead role.

     All in all, it looks like the Student Run Production is shaping up to be a fantastic show, and I hope you’re all excited for it! “Almost, Maine” premieres in Wilmington Friends School’s theatre on Friday, January 17th, 2020 at 7:30 and Saturday, January 18th, 2020 at 5:30.