Bryan Laprise
Captivating, thrilling and cleverly-written are the three words Lynsey Sylvester, the Performing Arts Concentration teacher and the director of this year's play, would describe this Galt Drama performance by. She also states, "I'm just really excited to be back to live-theater performances after three years, and I'm excited to be directing my first show on the same stage I performed on when I was a student. Working with such a phenomenal cast has made the last 4 months such an enjoyable experience." The last performance put on by Galt Drama being The Crazy Cowgirls of Pemberley Ranch, in 2019.
A small town. A theater with a tragic past. An inexplicable event. A detective, a fireman, and a high school student looking for answers. Scholars from around the world, weighing in with outlandish theories, each one more unbelievable than the last... In the town of Menachap, California, everyone is asking the same question: What happened the night of the school play? When a young girl starts talking of inhuman creatures plaguing the town, the story catches the interest of a documentary crew. Hoping for the scoop of a lifetime, they descend upon the town and begin interviewing the citizens of Menachap. What they uncover only generates more questions... Why is this happening in Menachap? Will the victims ever recover from this tragedy? Who and what is to be believed?
Everyone is excited by this year's Galt Drama production, especially seeing it's been so secretive and mysterious. Cast and crew members are thrilled to be back on stage in front of a live audience. Valerie Papillon, who has been in many plays at Alexander Galt, states, "it's been too long. Being in front of an audience makes all the time we put in every Saturday and every week feel like it was all really worth it, to hear the applause." The cast started rehearsals in early October, putting in close to ten hours a week working on the production. Various teachers and future audience members are looking forward to the performance as well. One teacher said, "Seeing students who I teach do something really creative is really cool." Many are excited to know more about the play, after it has been kept under wraps for so long.
On Monday, January 24th, the first round of posters started being put up around the school and the community, each with the headline, Don't Tell The Secret!! overlayed on a messy desk. A week later, the posters were changed to a new design; Can I Tell You a Secret? with the picture of a keyboard. On Friday, February 3rd, the final poster went up with the much-awaited title; Trap.
Adewel Pennec, a first-time actor in Galt Drama says, "it's a fun activity whether it's being in it or watching it, it makes school life more interesting. It's a great opportunity because I want to be an actor in the future." Matilda Tscherpel, the stage manager of the production expresses, "the whole thing was and is super cool." For Mar Gilabert, a member of the stage crew, she felt that "joining the cast was really easy, I felt welcomed from the first moment I was there," especially considering they started being at rehearsals two months into the process.
The audience has a lot to look forward to. Sylvester announced, "They can look forward to a lot of surprises. Some great soundtracks and something different that they probably haven't seen before from Galt Drama." Olivia Louise Grenier, long-time director for Galt Drama and this year's assistant director said, "I don’t remember us doing a thriller or a paranormal play in my time, and I’ve been here for a while. They can expect to have fun as always, but also to be surprised and to have some perceptions challenged. We wanted to present these student actors with a challenge, and they will deliver some awesome performances. I’m hoping the audience enjoys this one just as much as we’ve enjoyed rehearsing and preparing it! I also hope that we will have a lot of support and large audiences as we come back after the years of pandemic and restrictions. This is Galt Drama’s rebirth!"
Sarah Ticehurst, an avid cast member commented, "The most exciting for me is performance night. I'm excited for all of it to come together and for it to actually look like a play." One of her castmates, Abigayle Tanguay said her favorite part of putting together a play is "the group of people that we get to spend time with. Also, the fun of interpreting a character and expressing it on stage." Various cast members say that they love their costumes and it's one of their favorite parts of the process. Matilda Tscherpel also added, "my favorite parts of the process were probably all the times in between actual rehearsing, when we were just hanging out and having fun. And of course, seeing everything actually come alive has been spectacular. In the coming weeks… probably opening night, but specifically the last few hours before opening night and how everyone is going to be a nervous wreck."
On the director's side, Sylvester said that one thing she really enjoyed was seeing all the cast members put together the pieces of the play the way she did. Grenier added, "I’ve been at Galt for ten years and directing the plays has always been one of the highlights of my year! I think a big part of why I like to be involved every chance I get is to work with students and see them not only explore a side of themselves they don’t get to all the time, but also bloom in confidence when on stage, and see them realize their potential. The interconnectedness of a dramatic performance makes for an amazing creative experience and we really are just one big family."
This year’s Galt Drama production explores the incidents at the Oak Box Theatre, Menachap County, California and tries to answer one fundamental question: What scares us the most? You can see the play in the Alexander Galt Regional High School Auditorium on February 16th, 17th, and 18th at 8pm. Tickets are $9 - for reservations, please contact Christina Rousseau at 819-563-0770 ext. 22056. Please note that this performance is not suitable for young children due to some scary elements and themes related to horror and thriller genres. It is recommended for ages 10 and up, with an emphasis on the target audience of this play being middle school to adulthood. Parental discretion is advised.
Actress Emma Picard commented, "Nothing is as it seems. Look forward to the unexpected."
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