Behind the Curtain
Ashley Abraham, Staff Writer
October 29, 2009
Filed under ART!, Photos, Student Life
Le Jardin Academy will be performing a Drama Production in the Wang towards the end of January (unofficially). The play, “The Servant of Two Masters”, will be directed by our talented Drama teacher, Mr. St. John. Every performance in the school’s past was a success, but with a new school year comes new actors. The performances will be a surprise to us all.
Mr. St. John will attempt to transform a group of students, which mainly consists of new members, into a cohesive cast. But, Mr. St. John’s optimism never fails, even in a time of uncertainty, “We have a great cast. The play has a lot of potential.”
Potential. This word and the meaning behind it was the first step in Mr. St. John’s Drama career. “I was hanging out after school,” Mr. St. John recollects, “and a friend said, “Do you want to go to the Drama Club meeting with me?” Mr. St. John replied, “Why would I want to do that?” When Mr. St. John showed up for the meeting, play try-outs were being held. He obtained a small role, coincidentally for, “The Servant of Two Masters.”
The plot is centered on a clever servant who tries to double his earnings by working for two masters. This causes confusion and pandemonium. “This play was written as a classic Italian comedy”, but with the help from the Creative Writing club and the guidance of St. John, it will be updated. It will be tweaked to fit a modern setting, “plus, we changed the gender of a couple of characters, split one character into two, and added a narrative aspect that lets the audience in on some of the comic conventions of the original form,” says Mr. St. John, unshy of giving away important details before opening night.
Mr. St. John chose this play because he felt that, “it is instructive in the ways of ‘Comedia dell Arte,’ the most influential of all comic styles in theatre history.” The altered script is wacky and full of slapstick, “since we’re writing it, we can make it as inappropriate (or appropriate) as we choose,” explained St. John. The audience consists of middle and high school students, and the public.
So spread the word about the ‘up and coming’ play, “The Servant of Two Masters”, and support our school’s Fine Arts program by watching our talented actors perform.