Stay Tuned all
Breathers
A Play Review
By Caroline Hill
The
auditorium
lights
dimmed. They dim until the
maroon seats in front of you
cannot be seen. A presence is
sensed by all in attendance. A
voice pierces the crisp air.
“Silence Yo’ Phones.”
This winters mini plays
“Ten Ways to Survive a Zombie
Apocalypse” and “No Body
to Murder,” debuted at HPMS
Theater Feb. 13-Feb. 16. The
screen plays were written by
Edith Weiss, a comedian/ screen
play write, directed by Ms.
McCormack and student directed
by Taylor Kincaid.
These
plays
were
an
interesting choice compared to the
classics that have been performed
such as “Annie get your Gun,”
“Hortis Hears a Who,” “Joseph
and the Technic-Color Dream
Coat,” “Alice in Wonderland,”
“The Little Mermaid,” this
springs play the “Wizard of Oz,”
and a big step up from last years
winters play, “Will’s Window.”
But a more modern play was
well worth it. It had more
contemporary jokes that were
easier to understand, rather than
the jokes from plays that were
written in the 40s or 50s. Some of
the sarcastic jokes included disses
at the government, ObamaCare,
global warming, lazy people, and
Britney Spears. Some of these jokes
were so sarcastic, I thought that I
had a hand in writing them.
The play “No Body to
Murder,” was set up on an island
in an independently run inn
with a name so cliché that you
Will
Elphingstone
The boy behind
the curtain
By Rachel Rogers
For more with Will Elphingstone, check out the
play wrap up video on raidermedia.net
HPISD 3-24-14.indd 6
Pages6-7_PREPS.indd 2-3
would think a white girl in uggs
carrying the newest iPhone and
a Starbucks cup came with it. The
Come on Inn. The whole play was
about a con that had escaped from
jail and was on the loose. The
mainland was cut off the ferries
to prevent the con from getting
any farther away, and since the
cast was on an island, they were
stranded. The guests at the inn are
frightened enough by the sketchy
gardener, Garth (played by Mason
Richard). The maids, Magee
(played by Harrison Gosset) and
Nina (supposed to be played by
Avery Blessing but then replaced
last minute by Taylor Kincaid) let
the news slip about the escaped
con on the loose, freaking all the
guests out. Suddenly the over
enthused physical trainer, Billie
How many school plays have
you helped with?
I have worked on Fame and
Ten Ways to Survive a Zombie
Apocalypse/No Body to Murder.
What did you do?
I did all the lighting and helped out
with the sets.
How did you get into tech
theatre?
At church, I started playing in the
band, which developed into sound,
and then eventually I moved onto
lighting and video production. I do
Body (played by Sarah Schwartz),
is murdered. Pretty much the rest
of the play is designated to find
out who is the murderer.
I was very proud of our
school for “Ten Ways to Survive
the Zombie Apocalypse.” But this
was sadly one of those times when
“ten ways” is thrown around
inappropriately. For the play,
there were sadly 12 examples.
They go in order 1. Sacrifice the
weak 2. Trick the zombies 3.
Overwhelming firepower 4. Join
the zombies 5. Genetic dogs 6.
Kung Fu 7. Reason with them 8.
Romance the zombies 9. Don’t
fall down when you fall 10. Don’t
fall down when you run fast 11.
Leave the planet 12. Cannibalism.
Technically they played the last
two off as “bonus ways” and
they were just for the narrators to
escape the wrath of the zombies,
but the title doesn’t imply “bonus
ways.”
A tradition in the HPMS
play is that before the play, the
student’s vote for who deserves
honorable mention. This entails
who gave the best performance,
helped the most or whom they
think deserves it most. It can
either be from the cast or set crew.
The honorable mention is a cloak
that before the opening show, a
piece of someone’s costume is
cut off and safety pinned on to
the cloak. On opening night, the
night I went, Sydney Favors, who
played Hilda the hairdresser, was
awarded it.
Some people I personally
believe earned honorable mention
were Mr. Jenkins and Coach
Eason who played zombies in the
background of the Ten Ways play.
Also, seventh grader, Hannah
Trillo, who played a twisted
actress. She actually did make me
believe that she just wanted to be
left alone.
mostly lighting though.
How much time did you spend
on the plays (Ten Ways and No
Body)?
I spent two weeks on the set and a
week for the lighting and settings.
What exactly did you work on?
There was a lot of prep work; placing
and focusing fixtures, cutting
gels (the stuff you put in front of
lights make it a certain color), and
changing lamps. For the actual
shows, I recorded all the queues and
ran the light boards.
3/24/14 11:04 AM