The Dolores Theater Troupe will perform Thornton Wilder’s classic “Our Town” at the high school on April 15 at 7 p.m. and on April 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The play is considered challenging, explained theater director Pete Swingle, because it takes minimalist approach to costumes and sets, relying instead on pantomiming and expressive acting.
“It strips it down to the essence of theater,” he said. “I wanted to challenge my actors.”
The play examines ordinary lives in a small town, branches out to explore cosmic, universal truths, then brings it all back down to earth.
“I saw a comparison to small towns around here,” Swingle said.
Actors and directors are up to the challenge.
“The play examines normal average things from an existential perspective,” said senior Molly Reynolds, the play’s narrator. “Its challenging, with heavy subject material and a lot to memorize.”
The 18 actors are enjoying focusing on the pantomiming, said assistant director Olivia Benson-Hibbs.
“They are doing a good job adapting to it. Pantomiming requires a lot of spatial awareness and coordination between actors,” she said.
Madison Lankford, an eighth-grader, plays character Emily Webb.
“The message of the play emphasizes life, love, and death,” she said. “My character starts out naive, then has the self realization that it is important to appreciate the variety and details of her life.”
Participating in the Dolores Theater Troupe is very rewarding, the actors said.
“The drama community is like a family,” Reynolds said. “I just moved here from Colorado Springs, and the kids in theater are very welcoming.”
Added Lankford, “You learn to work together with each other. I like how every play has a message and as an actor you get to be somebody else.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com