Live Broadcast of Student Directed Play
On Friday, February 19, the Winsor Drama Department presented this year’s Student Directed Play, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball. The production was the result of months of tireless effort by student directors Maya Bodick ’21 and Grace Abbott ’22.
The play follows five bridesmaids who find refuge in the room of the bride’s sister d
uring an ostentatious wedding reception in Knoxville, TN. The women come to realize that despite their differences, they have more in common with each other than any of them do with the bride. The cast for the production included Katya Agrawal ’23, Ellie Carney ’23, Chloe Chao ’23, Yuyuan Huang ’24, Amanda Kosta ’22, and Olivia Sarkis ’23.Although Winsor was unable to welcome community members to attend the production on campus due to current health and safety guidelines, the students rehearsed on set with masks, and wore heavy-duty clear masks for a live-recorded performance on the stage of the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater in the Nancy and Richard Lubin Center for the Performing Arts. The live recording was broadcast to the community via a shared link. Although the students missed having a live audience in the theater, they all agreed that having the chance to finally perform on the stage again was a long-overdue and much-welcomed opportunity!
The Upper School Student-Directed Play takes place each year. Interested students propose a script and a clear vision of their production to the Performing Arts department in the spring. Next, they are given some resources, including rehearsal/performance space in the Clark-Tandon Drama Studio, a technical director, and access to costume stock, and they are asked how they would best utilize these tools. After filling out an application, they sit down with a committee for an interview and the strongest proposal is given support for a Winter production the following year, giving the director(s) plenty of time for planning and pre production work.
