LOAD-IN.
We moved into the New Wimbledon Studio Theatre on Monday, September 26th. During the load-in, or get-in, as the British call it, Moses (2nd from the left) delivered our set. We had to rent a blackboard which he picked up for us. We spent Monday getting everything set up for the week.
Andrew, Assistant Lighting Designer and Master Electrician, is hanging Diana's lighting plot.
Celeste, Assistant Director, is hanging one of the four quilts we had on the set.
Taylor helping hang lights.
Ian, our Sound Designer, is testing the Amish bonnets!
Andrew and Taylor doing their thing.
Me and the Amish doll of me. This was the first one made but was too small. I think it was really a voodoo doll!
Darren, Master of the Iron! Ironing all the costumes!
The rest of the costume crew!
Victoria making the new Amish doll!
Taylor working on the quilt Diana's character is making in the play.
Jake, the Stage Manager, supervising! It is what he does best!
THE PRODUCTION.
Diana, our Lighting Designer, also played the Amish Mother and America's Mother in the production.
Victoria as Carol, the killer's wife.
Zach as Eddie with Victoria as Carol
Taylor Novak as Velda, the Yoder's youngest daughter.
Darren as Bill North, a University professor of Amish Studies.
Taylor Crothers played multiple roles including a new reporter.
Here Taylor is portraying Aaron Yoder, the Amish father.
Taylor and Celeste playing Velda and Anna, Aaron's two daughters who were victims of the shooting.
Courtney plays Sherry a towns person and Taylor plays her husband, Ray.
Gigi portrayed America, a pregnant 16 year old Latina!
Diana plays her not so understanding mother.
Another one of Taylor's characters was a young Amish boy in the schoolhouse scene.
THE REVIEWS.
Review: The Amish Project, New Wimbledon Studio
The Amish Project was originally written by Jessica Dickey as a one-woman piece, designed to show off an actress’s character skills in multi-roling. The students from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota School of the Arts have chosen to present her ensemble version of the play – and having seen their version, I can’t imagine seeing it with only one cast member.
The larger ensemble allows for more interesting vocal work, with many voices repeating phrases to create an eerie choral effect, building tension. They also blend scenes together, allowing audience to witness contrasting characters and viewpoints simultaneously, and using overlapping entrances and exits effectively.
The play is inspired by one real-life shooting in America, in Nickel Mines in Pennsylvania, all the more shocking because it targeted the peaceful Amish community – and in particular, their children. This production marks ten years almost to the day since the shooting. On 2 October 2006, Charles Carl Roberts took ten schoolgirls hostage in their schoolroom, shooting eight and killing five. The incident sent shockwaves through the community, but many were equally astounded at the forgiveness extended by the Amish community towards Roberts and his family.
The Amish Project represents events immediately after the shooting: the initial grief of the families affected, the horror of the locals as their own lives march on, and the interest and at times bafflement of the press. Taylor Novak as Velda introduces us to Amish culture and the setting of the tragedy: her childish innocence, on the brink of her teenage years and full of dreams for the future, is a poignant signal of what we know is to come. We also encounter her grieving parents Aaron and her unnamed mother, in gentle understated but affecting performances from Taylor Crothers and Diana Haynes. However, we hear many facts about the Amish way of life, the play reveals little about these characters beyond the parental grief you would expect. I would like to have seen deeper character examination of these figures, delving into why they could forgive their daughters’ attacker with such apparent ease.
More revealing is the portrayal of Carol Stuckey, wife of the perpetrator Eddie (names have been changed from the real events). It is a stand-out performance by Victoria Madigan, attempting to negotiate the unpredictable stages of grief: confusion, heartbreak, range, breakdown, and finally the attempt to continue with normal aspects of your life. Here the script is at its most believable and heart-rending – when just going to the shops to buy some moisturiser, or getting your children to eat their breakfast, becomes a victory in itself.
The pace does drag at times and the whole show feels longer than its under 90-minute running time. Despite some bold performances and strong ideas, several characters lacked the development I would have liked. The decision to put the climactic shooting mid-way through the piece means the tension fades too early making the last half an hour or so rather slow. However, this is a moving piece and a brave interpretation, and this company of student performers have plenty of promise.
The Amish Project is playing at the New Wimbledon Studio until 8 October. For more information and tickets, see the ATG tickets website.
The Amish Project at New Wimbledon Studio Theatre – Review
Violent gun massacres in the United States are nothing new. Barely a month goes by without some tragedy happening where someone decides that they wish to go out in a blaze of glory by shooting colleagues/friends/random strangers and then themselves. Each event is horrific in its own right but even for an old cynic like me, the horror takes on a new level when children are involved. So it is with The Amish Project presented at the New Wimbledon Studio by the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota School of the Arts.
The Amish Project is based on the true story of 2nd October 2006 when a stranger walked into an Amish schoolroom in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania and then began shooting. The play itself follows the story from the perspective of several people directly and indirectly involved in the murders by Eddie Stuckey (Zachary Hillman). There is Eddie’s wife Carol (Victoria Madigan) and Bill North (Darren Cajipo) a non-Amish man who is very close to the reclusive people – especially Aaron (Taylor Crothers), his wife (Diana Haynes) and their two daughters, Velda (Taylor Novak) and Anna (Celeste Nygren). Then there is all-American woman Sherry Local (Courtney Govan) and shop assistant America (Yisset Gonzales).
The story put together by writer Jessica Dickey closely mirrors the events that occurred in the real shootings and the reactions of the various people involved are at times, exceptionally real. It’s an interesting point but whenever we hear about these sort of occurrences, how many of us think about the family the killer has left behind and what must be going through their minds? I have to say that after a truly amazing performance by Victoria Madigan I have more of an inkling of what someone in that situation must have to endure. The constant questioning not only of herself but from others such as Sherry Local, abusing her in the shops must be at times almost too much to bear – and in this case, the situation is made worse as Carol and Eddie have children. Carol’s performance really stood out as superb – and this was an extremely talented group of actors – and she managed to move me to tears a couple of times as her character came to terms with what had happened and, her part in her husband’s actions.
The play is told in small scenes, each covering an aspect of the killing, either in real time or using flashbacks to illustrate a point. The scenes were interspersed with the singing of hymns as the actors moved scenery around – a really nice touch by Director Gary Diomandes. Despite this moving around I never found myself lost and during the very chilling scene in the schoolhouse – congratulations to Taylor, Celeste and Zachary for bringing that to life so well – I was sat on the edge of my seat totally engrossed in the story I was watching.
I think my only problem with the writing was that I didn’t really seem to increase my understanding of the Amish mindset. The fact that they could not only forgive the killer but arrive at his house to comfort his wife – again this was what occurred in the real event – really threw me and I think there was an opportunity lost to explain more the reasoning behind their act. This was a shame, though it did spur me on to investigate the Amish and the West Nickel Mines School shooting itself more closely.
All told then, The Amish Project is a very well crafted and written. As a piece of writing , it brings a horrible event to life and makes the audience exam how they would react not only as an observer but if they were on of the protagonists in the story. When adding an extremely good and professional group of actors, The Amish Project provides an interesting and at times uncomfortable but engrossing piece of theatre.
Review by Terry Eastham
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
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