SOUTH OTSELIC – Student thespians, writers, directors, and stage hands are all hoping for a full house Friday and Saturday nights as the Otselic Valley Drama Club brings their adaptations of two well-known short stories and student written monologues to the stage.
Three separate performances are lined up for the Drama Club’s annual fall show, directed by three OV seniors. “The Lottery,” based on author Shirley Jackson’s 1948 short story, tells the brief tale of a small American town that continues an annual ritual of “the lottery.” Hailed as one of the most famous short stories in American literature, “The Lottery” questions traditions and customs that are passed down through generations and whether those traditions ought to continue.
“We always wish we could get a few more days of practice in, but I think my cast is pretty strong and definitely ready for this show,” said OV senior Francesca Cortez, student director of “The Lottery.”
Originally placed in the 1940’s, Cortez took some creative liberties by giving the play a more contemporary setting. “We wanted to make it a little more modern and up to date,” she added. “The biggest challenge has been getting my actors to understand the play. I have a young cast, so some of them had a hard time grasping the meaning of it, and so they had a hard time acting it out at first.”
The second play, “Cage Birds,” based on playwright Dave Rogers same-name production, also takes a look at traditions through a dark lens. The one-act play tells the story of six women locked in a cage until one day, a new woman, called the “Wild One,” is thrown in with them and challenges each one to escape captivity.
“I like this story because it’s all based on traditions. We have a lot of traditions here at Otselic Valley, some of them are good and some not so good, and I think the community will be able to grasp that idea,” said student director Ella Costa, adding her desire of spreading the message that those “not so good” traditions can change.
“It took a while for my cast to get where they need to be in order to be ready, mainly because the lines of this play are so long and difficult to memorize,” she added. “But I’m pretty confident in them that they’re going to do good.”
The third and final performance is written, directed, and starred by OV senior Grace Lowry. Lowry prepared two monologues titled “I Thought I was Queen” and “Not Your Average Nana”
“‘I Thought I was Queen’ is a personal narrative for my college English class that I turned into a monologue,” explained Lowry. The narrative recalls an instance in which her 11-year-old sister was given a cell phone despite a once enforced house rule that kids had to be 13 first.
