About 20 student actors and crew and adult volunteers from the Banks High School Drama Club gathered in the chilly high school cafeteria Saturday, Nov. 30.
Just under a week to go until their first showtime of “The Giver, an adaptation of a young adult dystopian novel, last minute details were being hammered out. Students were applying stage makeup; ladders went up, then down, then up again.
“Remember, if you’re sitting there you can be running your lines, double checking your blocking,” said Madalyn Hatcher, sitting atop an elevated platform where she was working on a laptop with a soundboard beside her.
Hatcher is the Banks High School Drama Club advisor, and also the director of The Giver. Hatcher also teaches English and social studies at the Banks High School and one drama class at the Banks Middle School.
If you go:
Performances of The Giver will take place in the Banks High School cafeteria on Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.
Admission is $5 cash at the door. There is no intermission. Snacks and drinks are available for cash purchase as well.
Due to mature themes involving war and death, as well as flashing lights and sounds, the recommended audience age is 10 and older.
“It’s basically about a young boy in a dystopian community,” Hatcher said. “The community in which the boy lives in has embraced conformity to an extreme, removing weather, color, and anything that could make anyone different.”
“So he’s living his life, and when he turns 12, he gets assigned the job to hold all of the memories of the past that are no longer useful to the community now, but they still need to reference if a problem comes up.”
“As he starts to experience these memories, both good and bad—war and family and love and all those things—he realizes just how dystopian the world is that he’s living in and that’s kind of what the story is about.”
“Him grappling with that, and figuring out what he needs to do to be in this community or to change it,” Hatcher said.
Students have been preparing for the production, adapted from Lois Lowry’s novel for the stage by Eric Coble, for months. Work began in September.
“They’ve been working really hard,” Hatcher said, noting that thanks to donations from the community, the drama club has added additional lighting and sound to the production.
And while Hatcher welcomed donations to the drama club (Donations can be made at the Banks High School office; note that it’s for the drama club), the best way to support students is to show up one of the three performances.
“Having a body in the audience who’s cheering and giving them their energy and support is even more important,” Hatcher said.
Self-described “Drama Mama” Sonia Redmond (her son Evan plays “The Giver” ) was on hand to fill in where needed on Saturday. Along with her husband Eric, who was aiding in some last-minute carpentry on the stage, the family has been involved in the BHS Drama club for four years.
“I’m always happy to give these kids a safe place to land and be creative and awesome,” she said.
Being in the drama club is more than just acting; set design, lighting and sound, costuming and more are all part of the process. With the help of a handful of parent volunteers, students learn carpentry skills as they build physical sets, learn about lighting and audio design, and more.
The Banks High School is located at 13050 NW Main Street in Banks.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
