It was Labor Day 1953 in a small Kansas town…The black box theater was transformed for four straight days into a rural town which would experience a romantic somersault over the course of two days.
Picnic, a play written by William Inge was Director Dillon Gutierrez’s choice as his first production as new theater instructor.
“I chose the show Picnic so that the students could experience a large array of emotions,” Gutierrez said. “The show contains a lot of heart, whether it’s the characters laughing together or sharing something profound with the audience.”
Gutierrez said it took a lot of work from the tech theatre classes for the scenery.
“Divided between myself and (Clark)Reed, we have a lot of good workers,” Gutierrez said. “I would have to give credit to our technical designers that we have during rehearsal who create the lighting (junior Katelynn Alonzo), sound (junior Paityn Espinoza) and stage manager (junior Diana Reimer). Rehearsal could not be done without these three key elements.”
Reimer said the set took about two weeks to finish with all of the classes working on it.
“The process was pretty fast,” Reimer said. “I don’t think it could have gone any faster. As the stage manager, I like to keep everything organized, keeping everyone on track and helping everyone do what they’re supposed to do.”
Gutierrez said the actors connected with their characters.
“During our first table read, the show nearly seemed closer to a comedy,” Gutierrez said. “As we’ve worked through the rehearsal process, our actors have made tremendous discoveries with their characters. With such roller coaster of emotions, the black box helps us emphasize the tone for each scene in the show.”
Junior Violet Barkis Robertson, who portrayed lead Madge Owens, said she tried to be a leader to underclassmen.
“I have never done a play in the black box,” Barkis Robertson said. “There are a lot of freshman as part of the crew, so I try to lead them, being an upperclassmen and leading character, but it is stressful.”
Barkis Robertson had to get into the mind of her character, a recent high school graduate who is about to marry the town’s most eligible bachelor Alan Seymour, played by junior Joey Penner.
“Madge Owens is a flirtatious, beautiful and emotional character,” Barkis Robertson said. “She is a very put together and confident girl.”
Seymour’s friend charismatic Hal Carter, played by senior Matthew Peters, arrives by rail to look up his friend and get a job, but falls in love in the process.
The romance involved three intimate kissing scenes between Peters and Barkis Robertson as their characters fell in love.
“It was awkward at first,” Peters said, “but then it becomes regular when you get along with the other cast members. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Gutierrez wanted to bring back the black box theater experience from when he was a student at SHS. The audience sat on three sides of the acting space with the actors coming out into the middle to act.
“The black box creates a more intimate setting and can present an entirely different experience for the audience,” Gutierrez said. “The audience is much closer to the action happening on state. Depending upon where you sit, you may experience a completely different show from the one someone else may see on the other side of the audience.”
As the final show wound down on Monday, the cast and crew could strike the set on the first black box production in three years.
“There is not much pressure when all the cast members are working together,” Peters said. “It goes much faster and smoother.”
