By Kathryn Gentile
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Dover-Sherborn Middle School students performed in their spring play “The Day The Internet Died” just a week ago. The play had two performances on May 1st and 2nd, and the show followed a group of confused townspeople during a mysterious internet outage where they relearn community, creativity, and communication without their screens. There were about 50 students in the production spanning the sixth to the eighth grade. They also received additional help from a number of high school students who had previously worked with the middle school theater program. These students came back to the middle school to assist as student directors, stage crew, and lighting operators, among others. The show’s director, Carmel Bergeron, described the Dover-Sherborn middle and high school theater departments as “very connected," which acts as a great help for finding volunteers and encouraging continued participation.
Bergeron reflected fondly on not just the show but the process of preparing for it. The complete process lasted for about three months. Auditions were held the week of MLK Day, and, minus school vacation weeks, the students rehearsed two times a week up until the show. Bergeron said that her favorite part of this rehearsal process was teaching the kids more about the ins and outs of not just the show they are performing but theater in general. During the musical season, the students are focused more on the choreography and learning the songs, but during the play season, Bergeron described how the students are able to “learn a lot” about theater as a craft. Additionally, Bergeron was impressed with the talent she met during this process. There were 33 students in the cast of the show, and many were new to Bergeron or new to the stage. She was impressed by just how many good actors Dover-Sherborn had who she didn’t already have the chance to know.
While Bergeron’s favorite part of the rehearsal process was the active process of teaching new things, her favorite part of the performances is getting to sit back and watch the show for herself. “I like when it gets down to the performances and I don’t have a script in my hand anymore… I’m just watching it,” she said. During the performances, she got the chance to see her students’ hard work come together and see them “do it on their own now." Seeing it all come together is always the best part, and “The Day The Internet Died” was no exception.
The students loved the show as much as Bergeron herself. “If they could’ve done it five more nights, they would’ve loved to,” she said. All of the students are “hams” who love to be on stage but, more than that, who love to be there with their friends. The drama program allows the students to meet new people and bond with old ones. Performing together is a valuable bonding experience for the students and only enhances their performance.
“The Day The Internet Died” was quite a success. When asked, Bergeron said that the shows went smoothly and she wouldn’t change a thing, except, perhaps, starting earlier. But if there was one thing outside of her control she could change, it would be attendance. The middle school drama program performs both a musical and a play every year. While the musical usually sells out all four performances, the same cannot be said for the plays. Plays often get smaller audiences than musicals due to having less recognizable names and being perceived as less “fun” than shows with flashy dance numbers and catchy tunes. “The Day The Internet Died” got more attendance than is typical for the plays, and this is a trend that Bergeron would like to continue. Not only are the plays just as fun as the musicals, but the kids who work on the play pour their hearts and souls into the work they put onto the stage. They deserve to have their hard work seen and admired, and Bergeron wants to make sure that everyone knows it. “Don’t knock it!”
