Deep in the stories of ancient Greece lie the tale of Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, which tells the tale of a sister who goes against King Creon’s wishes to bury her (dishonored) brother. The story came to life on the Alberta Kimball stage on April 23 and 24 as the Drama Club presented the 2021 spring play.

“It’s a classic, and it’s really cool to see the classics and how they can be adapted over time,” senior Bryna Goeking said. “Yes, it’s about a family in ancient Greece, but it translates to the modern world and modern problems that still hold true today.”

Drama coach and English teacher Scott Thurwatcher decided on Antigone partially because of the pandemic and masks being a must. While performing, the cast wore Greek theater masks to add authenticity and embrace the current circumstances.

“I thought it would be an awesome opportunity for students to do something different where they’re expressing more physically with their bodies rather than just facial expressions,” he said. “Now it's all tone of voice, how we say things, and how we deliver physically, which is a huge challenge for high school theater.”

The group did not get the chance to start preparing for the play until much later than usual due to waiting for the district to make decisions regarding the safety and timing of going back to school.

“It wasn't until we went into phase two when everyone was going to be back in the school that we were finally comfortable with saying ‘okay, we can do this: let's do auditions,’” Thurwatcher said.

Because school was shut down before many spring activities could start, it left students without the opportunity to get involved. Luckily, with safety measures in place, those activities could begin again, allowing students to return to the clubs and activities they missed or wanted to join.

“I really wanted to get involved, and I was hoping this year would be my chance. Because of COVID last year we had to cancel the play, so I didn’t have a chance to get involved,” junior Melia Holmes said. “So when we came back this year, I was gonna try and make it a goal to get involved.”

So, auditions were held, and the cast and crew were chosen. Sophomore Lara Funnell landed Antigone’s role and was very grateful for the opportunity to do what she enjoys most.

“I love performing because you get to be somebody you're not in real life,” she said. “You get to perform and be a person in a different time period or a different place. It’s like a whole new you.”

Senior Frances Kerkhof has been doing plays since she was about four years old. She never really liked memorizing lines or getting up in front of the audience, so she joined the stage crew and is now the official stage manager of Antigone. While set apart from the cast, Kerkhof doesn’t feel less togetherness between everyone involved.

“I like the community aspect the most,” she said. “I mean, there's always been a little bit of a difference between people in the cast and stage crew, but like overall, just coming together as a group and working on something is really great.”

The whole cast put in the effort to help make the play the best it could be. With the uncertainty of even having a show and because of their dependence on the district’s decisions, the crew only had about five weeks to put on the production.

“We were kind of up against the district’s rules as far as activities and what people could do,” Thurwatcher said. “Once it was finally kind of an open gate, then we were able to dive in and start doing it.”

While preparing, they learned to spread out on stage to help maintain social distancing guidelines, but that was not the only rule to change because of distancing.

“The biggest change is just how many people can come to our plays,” Thurwatcher said. “The auditorium is only allowing 25% as far as the public being able to come in and watch a show.”

To combat the lower attendance, the crew found a way to live stream the play for everyone to see and hoped that it could be a new option for plays in the future.

“That was a whole hassle trying to get people to live stream it and worrying about copyright music and everything,” Kerkhof said. “But, it's going to be exciting because there are going to be a lot more people who can see it.”

With all the new changes, Thurwatcher was proud of his students and how much they had accomplished.

“As far as the students go, they did a fantastic job,” he said. “It's a script that was full of words that they were not familiar with, so memorizing those types of lines was very difficult.”

After spending numerous hours with the language, junior Preston Munsch enjoyed growing into his role and developing it on stage.

“Once you get off-book and realize who your character is, it’s a lot of fun to get into those moments and have the characterization come through,” he said.

Goeking also appreciates the latter half of the preparation process where cast members embrace their characters and give them meaning.

“My favorite part is piecing things together and seeing each person understand their character and bring them to life,” she said. “Not only that, but it helps other people understand it, so the collaborative effort of it all is so fun to be a part of.”

Holmes looked forward to attending the rehearsals where she finally saw her and Allison Kelley’s hard work with the costumes pay off.

“I loved going to rehearsal and watching everyone, and I loved when I got to see my creations up on the stage and people legitimately wearing them, performing in them,” she said.

For Holmes, creating the costumes for the play was a way to express her talent and become a part of a community at West. Thurwatcher knows the importance of finding a way to not only be involved but relieve some potential stress.

“This has been a tough year and not everyone can play football or volleyball; some people just have outlets that they need, and they were struggling because they didn't have one,” Thurwatcher said.

Whether it was art, music, or theater, there was a time when the community of students were stuck in their homes, not being able to do what they love. Thurwatcher understood the positive impacts that happen with a return to normalcy.

“Some of these students really needed this,” he said. “Finding ways for students to come back and feel semi-normal in a totally not normal world is so important.”

By E. Olson and K. Ambati

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue VII

April 30th, 2021

Ancient tragedy triggers needed modern catharsis for cast, crew, and audience