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The Dover Sherborn Middle School spring plays were off to a great start. Three Dover-Sherborn High School students had signed on to be the directors, three plays were chosen, auditions were held, the cast lists were established, and rehearsals had begun. However, they had one big obstacle – they had nowhere to perform.
The first logical choice, Mudge Auditorium, was booked by the Dover Foundation for their production of “Guys and Dolls.” Another option, Kraft Hall at the Dover Church, was being used to host Family Promise, their homeless ministry. And the final venue that served as a theater for many DS plays in the past, the Sherborn Community Center, had become the temporary home for the Sherborn Library. While the upstairs room and the stage were available, the downstairs room - where the 60 middle school cast members put on costumes, have hair and make-up done, wait for stage entrances, go to for stage exits, and wait for their play to begin - was in full use by the library.
When it seemed that all possibilities for a venue had been exhausted, one of the student directors, Sophie Charron, had a great idea. She suggested using the upstairs of the Sherborn Community Center as the performance venue and the Unitarian Universalist Area Church as the cast room, given their close proximity to each other. Thanks to the generosity of the two Sherborn venues, the Dover Sherborn Middle School drama program found their perfect “homes” to perform the three one-act plays this year.
Carmel Bergeron, DS Middle School math teacher and producer of the middle and high school plays said of the predicament, “While I was very reluctant to start the drama season without a venue, I had to get the rehearsals underway. I am very grateful to the two venues – the Sherborn Community Center and the Unitarian Universalist Area Church - for opening their doors to the DSMS Drama Program. I am so glad that it all worked out.”
This year’s spring plays are each a fun twist on three different classics. “Romeo to Go” is a comedic play-within-a-play rendition of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” In “Don’t Say Macbeth!”, audience members will enjoy the farcical retelling of “Macbeth.” Finally, the story of Odysseus and his travels will be told in Dr. Seuss rhyme in “The SeussOdyssey.”
Making their middle school directorial debut, student directors Sophie Charron, Sam Gray, and Amy Ursitti, veteran drama students at Dover-Sherborn High School, will be directing the three one-act comedic plays. In choosing a play for the middle school students, Amy Ursitti based her decision on her fondness of reading “The Odyssey” as a high school student. As director of “The SeussOdyssey,” Ursitti states, “I thought that it would be nice to find a way for younger students to be informed about this epic poem before entering high school. Plus, the play is hilarious!”
The performances will be April 27, 28 and 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sherborn Community Center. All three one-act plays will be performed each night. Tickets for “the classics, with a comedic twist” are $10 and are on sale at Dover Market, Sherborn Walgreens, and online at www.ticketstage.com.
