After much debate, Victoria Rei, Van Stahlin and Aiden McCloat decided the next play at Andy’s Summer Playhouse can be described as 85% mime and 15% talking.
Rei clarified that a show does not have to be silent to be considered mime; the important part is the lack of props used by the actors. In “Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase,” the performers construe their bodies into the shapes of boats, furniture, trees and gravestones.
Rei and McCloat are both sixth graders at South Meadow Middle School and have been attending the Andy’s Summer Playhouse program for four years. Stahlin, on the other hand, is a junior at ConVal High School and this marks his third year at the playhouse.
“It’s a great community and I feel like it’s a place where I can be myself,” Stahlin said.
McCloat agreed with him and added, “Although we have to stay up till like midnight, it’s worth it.”
While there are many long days and late nights, tech rehearsal for the Nancy Drew crew ended at 10 p.m. on Monday, July 8.
“Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase” opens on Friday, July 10, and will play during the weekend until July 18.
‘Power with playwriting’
Andy’s Summer Playhouse started its 56th season this summer and the children continue to be the center of the storytelling.
Director SMJ has worked with the playhouse in the past, but this is their first time as executive director.
“It’s nerve-racking, but also fun,” they said.
Adding to their list of firsts, SMJ is also directing the first full production of a mime play.
The beloved story of Nancy Drew set in the 1930s film noir aesthetic, will transport the audience with mime moves as well as the use of sound, silence, light, projections and classic jazz detective music.
While SMJ’s name will be under director in the playbook, the around 40 kids participating on and off the stage get credit for their many contributions to bring this story to life.
“We try to give as much power with playwriting to the kids as possible,” SMJ said.
Whether it’s light, sound, costumes, or acting, the students participate fully in all decisions and have no fear asking questions.
This inclusivity creates a space for children and teens aged eight to 18 to learn and make mistakes alongside their peers.
“Here all ages can play a lead and all ages have a part in each play,” Stahlin said.
‘Wonderful group of kids’
Dozens of kids come stomping into the old playhouse each day of the summer ready to learn, play and participate in theater.
“It’s really cool, especially having a program like this where kids come because they love doing theater,” Sarah Groustra, artistic director of Andy’s Summer Playhouse, said.
Some come for the whole day, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., while others pick and choose which productions they want to be a part of.
Throughout the day, no one is ever bored. Whether or not the students are getting instructions from an educator, they are practicing their lines together or running around the large yard with friends.
Groustra explained how, as playwrights and theater professionals, her coworkers and she learn from the kids just as much as the students learn from them.
“I think because they have such great imaginations and thoughtfulness and really unique perspectives on things, developing your play alongside the young artists is actually so helpful because they’re going to think of things that you never thought of before,” she said.
A great way to describe the work done at Andy’s Summer Playhouse falls along the lines of it’s not children’s theater, but theater made by children, as SMJ explained.
“It’s a really wonderful community and a really wonderful group of kids. They’re all very passionate about doing weird things,” Groustra said.
‘Working eye-to-eye’
Pulled from Andy’s Summer Playhouse’s mission statement, the theme for this season is working eye-to-eye.
Groustra said this influences their work and the kids as they discuss decisions for each production. Most of the plays this year focus on mysteries.
In addition to the production of “Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase,” the kids are producing a touring play: “The Day The Crayons Quit,” two teen plays: “Everything You Wanted” and “it’s literally the end of the world, like, for real this time” and a musical: “The Forest Knows.”
For the teen plays, Groustra said they are adaptations of the classics “As You Like It” and “Lord of the Flies.”
“Taking those texts that kids might be more familiar with and recontextualizing them into something that feels a little more familiar to them,” she said.
The eight-week-long program includes the production of six shows, three workshops and two Greenhouse Initiatives, including the annual John C. Russell Playwriting Festival.
For more information about programs or tickets to the upcoming shows, visit their website: https://www.andyssummerplayhouse.org/
