On May 16 and 17, the Concord Academy community will have the opportunity to see the student-led Directors’ Workshop production. Each year, two seniors heavily involved in CA’s theater program are chosen to select, cast, and direct their own production, typically composed of two individually directed one-act performances. This year differs from previous productions, however, as senior directors Aviva Jeffery ’24 and Sophie Laurence ’24 are collaborating to put on one full-length show.
Aviva and Sophie selected the play Almost, Maine, a show composed of a series of vignettes all connected on the theme of love, and all taking place concurrently in the town of Almost, Maine. “[The scenes] all depict love and relationships in all of [their] stages––beginning, end, middle, meeting for the first time,” said Sophie. She and Aviva chose this show because they felt everyone watching would be able to see themselves in one of the scenes, not necessarily in a relationship but relating to love in a way that the show depicts.
The show distinguishes itself from a realistic narrative through its relationship to the genre of magical realism. In addition to being heartwarming, touching, and a little sad, the play also includes a series of moments that persist throughout the vignettes—a person who cannot feel pain, a waitress with a name that is too uncommon to be a coincidence, a woman who carries her heart around in a paper bag. These scenes bleed into each other to add to the illusion of different moments taking place simultaneously in the town of Almost, Maine.
Aviva and Sophie divided up the scenes to direct separately; they also have their own casts but will work together to direct the prologue, interleague, and epilogue, and will confer with each other on larger elements such as the set. They felt that this was the perfect combination, as they wanted to collaborate on this project while creating their own individual experiences for their directorial debuts.
While both directors held auditions and announced the cast in the first week of March, they have been working on the show since the beginning of the year. Being the only two students in last fall’s Theater 3 class, Aviva and Sophie were able to get a head start on the show by practicing directing scenes and thinking about larger design elements. They were also able to work more closely with the Directors’ Workshop mentor and theater faculty, Shelley Bolman.
Spearheading Directors’ Workshop is a large commitment. The project demands the directors to organize rehearsals around cast members’ conflicts and requires approximately three prerequisite theater classes. Aviva, however, became interested in the program as soon as she came to CA as a junior. Instantly intrigued upon seeing the offering in the course catalog, she is excited to dive deeper into her passion for theater after spending all her time at CA working towards this achievement. Sophie has been involved in CA’s Performing Arts program as an actor for a long time and has dabbled in tech, and chose to pursue Directors’ Workshop to explore a new facet of the theater world.
With the monumental amount of work put into the production by the directors and the cast, Directors’ Workshop is an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the talent and creativity of CA students. Mark your spring calendars with this community opportunity and make sure to see this wonderful show!