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By JANET COOK
News staff writer
February 28, 2007
The Hood River Valley High School spring
theater production may feature one of the smallest casts ever, but it
lacks nothing.
Drama teacher Rachel Krummel and nine cast members have taken on “The
Ladies of the Camellias,” based on the 19th century book and
subsequent play by Alexandre Dumas called “The Lady of the Camellias,”
or “Camille” as it was known in the United States.
Terra Dawson and Teddy Meyer argue after
Dawson storms the theater with a gun.
High school drama productions tend to be
chosen in part for the size of the cast required — bigger is better so
that more students can participate. But this year Krummel, who was
diagnosed with breast cancer last spring and has been undergoing
chemotherapy and radiation for the past several months, faced
different criteria than usual in selecting the spring production.
“My cancer picked it,” she said. “I knew I had to do something small
or not do anything at all.”
Jonas Grosserhode, left, and Teddy Meyer
chat during a scene.
The cast features three females — and one of those roles was changed
from a male in the original script when student Terra Dawson “read so
well for it,” Krummel said.
Playwright Lillian Groag calls her work “The Ladies of the Camellias”
a “divertissement.” It has been described as a “witty comedy that lies
somewhere west of farce.” The play revolves around the two main
characters, Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse, who were well-known
theater actresses in the late 19th century.
Bridget Wade appeals to Kory Harding.
Both became famous playing the leading
role in the widely popular “The Lady of the Camellias.” Despite this,
they were vastly different women, both in their personal lives and
their acting methods.
The play also delves into the anarchist movement, which flourished in
Europe during the latter part of the 1900s. During that time, the
theater (the most popular form of entertainment) was carefully
monitored by authorities concerned about incidents — assassinations,
hostage-taking and such — which might involve attending government
officials.
Nolan Kirkwood listens to Lauren Merge.
Krummel said that one advantage of
staging a play with a small cast is that “the competition is pretty
fierce — the kids who get the parts have to really work hard and know
their stuff.”
The cast all have accents— French, Italian and Russian — which they’ve
been working on since December.
“Before Christmas, I told them that accents can really fail on stage,”
Krummel said. “I told them if they were totally committed, they needed
to spend some time and get the accents going before anything else.”
Many cast members got resources online to help them, and some even
worked with native speakers.
Krummel may have had to sacrifice casting more kids in order to do a
spring play at all, but the result is a delightfully funny, smart
production which the students pull off with aplomb. |
