Curtains fall. Lights dim, and the audience hushes. This year’s Middle School play invites the audience to stop thinking about the present and step into a journey through space and time with “A Wrinkle in Time.” The show was performed in the Black Box on Thursday, Jan. 15, and Friday, Jan. 16.
The play begins with a stormy night, as Meg Murray and her brother, Charles Wallace Murray, are at home with their mother. A couple of witches visit them and take them on a journey that helps them find their father. They discover things about themselves that they might see as weaknesses and help them turn them into positives or superpowers.
Middle School Theater Director Rick Westerkamp is the director for this production, picking up where former Theater Director Matthew Wiggin left off. The production has three main leading roles. Eighth-grader Natalie Malinowsky played Meg Murry, who is a determined and thoughtful character. Eighth-grader Luke Gadarowski played Charles Wallace, Meg’s younger brother, and eighth-grader Hunter Caldwell took on the role of Calvin O’Keefe, a friend who joins the siblings’ journey in this play. Mr. Westerkamp said that the three leads represent different perspectives for Middle School students.
The students started preparing for the play at the beginning of the year during the elective course they took, Acting 3, where, for a few months, students started with play analysis and scene studies. “Around October, they dove into this play, auditioned for it, and the former drama teacher, Mathew Wiggin, cast the students for the play,” Mr. Westerkamp said.
By the time the swap between teachers finished, students in the play were focusing more on getting out of the book and on adding props and costumes. Mr. Westerkamp explained how the play is an excellent choice for Middle School students: “There isn’t a lot of dynamic theater that centers a middle school voice,” he said. Each character has different experiences. Every character has their own strengths and struggles. “To see three really unique school-age perspectives in one play gives a lot of students the opportunity to see themselves,” Mr. Westerkamp added. “This allows students to understand their peers a little differently.”
Behind the scenes, the actors collaborated to make the play happen. Mr. Westerkamp credits new Technical Director Paul Merchant for technical support. “None of the tech pieces would have been able to happen without him,” he said.
The students were also actively involved in making decisions. “Getting to know a group of eighth graders through theater has been a privilege, a pleasure, and maybe the greatest joy of starting this job,” Mr. Westerkamp reflected. “Watching this group of students work together to get the show back on track is where I felt really proud as a teacher.”
After the final curtain call, “A Wrinkle In Time” left the audience with a message. With thoughtful direction and the collaboration between students behind the scenes, the middle school students brought the play to life on stage. After the curtains close, the impact of the story and the students who were a part of making it happen remains.
