Thespians best in state, again
Just minutes before loading the bus to travel to the state festival, the Whitefish High School drama club had one of the wheels come off a table used in their performance. The crew made a fix with blocks of wood and tape to make the table work on stage.
The last minute work was a success because the group took the stage to perform and earned top state honors for the second year in a row Feb. 7 at the 2014 Montana State Thespian Festival in Missoula.
“After the performance on Friday, the adjudicators couldn’t find one criticism to give the students,” said coach Kelliann Blackburn. “Commenting instead on a polished piece, real and natural characters, simple and elegant set designs, and depth of subject matter portrayed in an incredibly mature manner.”
Whitefish High won the Outstanding Overall Production Award for their 45-minute cut from “Good People.”
In the individual competition, Sam Benkelman won an Outstanding Male Actor Award and Hunter Cripe took third place in the Death Scene Competition. Cripe was also elected vice president of the Montana State Thespian student board.
The drama group will bring the entire play to the stage this week in Whitefish. The club presents “Good People” by David Lindsay-Abaire Feb. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center.
Margaret (Katrina Funk) is a 50-year-old woman who grew up in the rough south end of Boston. Margie navigates her life of living below the poverty line with humor and colorful slice-of-life stories filled with poor and disenfranchised “Southies”.
In the first scene of the play, her boss at the Dollar Store, Stevie (Hunter Cripe), has to fire Margaret or risk losing his own job. Mulling over the depressing prospects of finding another job, Margaret’s colorful friends, Jean (Saige Perchy) and Dottie (Makkie Haller), suggest that she approach Mikey Dillon (Sam Benkelman) for a job.
Mike is an old flame of Margaret’s and a former Southie who has escaped the poverty of South Boston’s lower end by becoming a doctor. When Margaret approaches Mike for a job, their encounter becomes the heart of the play, and explores questions of class, social versus individual responsibility, community, race, and gender.
In Act II, Margaret shows up at Mike’s door in Chestnut Hill, and her Southie ways clash with Mike’s educated adult persona and sensibility. Mike’s wife Kate (Mickey Dooley), fascinated and curious about her husband’s Southie roots, allows herself to be pulled into the drama and conflict of Margaret and Mike’s reunion.
Things turn sour when Margaret’s stories of their colorful past, which Lindsay-Abaire makes intentionally ambiguous, raised questions about the truth of the past and present reality in all of their lives. Following the dramatic and potentially damaging evening Margaret spends with Mike and Kate, the play ends on a somewhat positive note at church bingo night run by Priest (Jonathan Dittman). Margaret’s future is brighter with the prospect of a job at Gillette and the generosity of Stevie, who has encountered a bit of luck.
The state title and the upcoming public performance wouldn’t be possible without the backstage and technical crew. The set was designed and painted by Holden Roberts and Marijka Devivier. Students directing this show are Spenser Eaton and Sloan Ellis. Allison Jones and Dillon Lawrence run the lights, and on sound is Jordan Brist.
Tavia Wood and Delaney Lewis manage costuming, Kaela Metcalfe is in charge of props, Abbie Belcher does hair and makeup, and Abigail Blake keeps everyone organized as the backstage manager.
The play is directed by head coach Kelliann Blackburn and assistant coach Scarlett Schindler.
Tickets can be purchased at the door and are $8 for adults and $5 for students.