Every fall, the students in the theatre lll and theatre lV classes have the opportunity to participate in a one-act show. They can choose either to be on the technical and set crew or as a part of the cast. This year, alum Bailey Nassetta directed 25 cast members who worked with ten crew members to put on The Lottery, based off the short story by the late Shirley Jackson. While only about 35 minutes in length, the show was incredibly moving and left audience members in both fear and awe.
Jackson’s short story takes place on June 27th, where every member of an imaginary small town gather to participate in a years long, annual tradition run by Mr. Summers, a prominent member of the town. One member, Tess Hutchison, is nowhere to be found, causing quite a stir. When she arrives, out of breath and nervous, she joins her husband and two children. Summers then calls a member from each house–always the male head of the house–to pull a slip of paper out of an old black box. They are then instructed to open their papers to discover who has the lone slip of paper with a black dot on it. It is revealed that Mr. Hutchinson had pulled the outlier card. What then ensues is completely surprising and frankly, terrifying. The ending was quite an unexpected, mind boggling twist that you will have to see to believe.
The theatre classes’ adaptation of the script by Thomas Martin is not much different from the short story. However, Nassetta decided to add Shirley Jackson (played by senior Erin Sweeney) as a character as a way of paralleling her life to the lives of those in the town. While the action was taking place on the main part of the stage, the character of Jackson sat at a desk on the side of the stage, occasionally acting as a sort of narrator while “typing” the story that was being performed.
Theatre teacher, Carol Cadby is known for her abstract additions to each show. Once again, she broke the boundaries along with Nassetta and once again, the audience was not let down. Two characters, a wolf (played by senior Maddy Wade) and a ghost of another character (played by senior Amelia Johnston) were added in as a way of hinting to the audience what the outcome might be. The addition of these characters added another, even creepier level to the show.
While each character was strong in their roles, Nassetta believed that any one of the cast members could have played any role. This is due to their lengthy workshopping before the show was cast. Each actor had a chance to get a feel for all the roles and understand the story before they were placed in a specific part. It was this process that helped to create such a strong cast and a powerful show.
Although the acting, staging and sound/light effects are all incredibly impressive, the most striking part about the show is its message. “You should see the show because it is good … it also has a powerful message… it teaches us to question tradition, ask ourselves what is right and I think that is very relevant right now,” said Cadby. Cadby was right, the show was filled with meaningful and important lessons and it is definitely worth seeing.
If you were unable to see The Lottery, on the 27th, 28th or 29th of October, do not fret, the piece will be performed again at the Virginia High School League Competition (VHSL) on January 21st. Everyone is welcome to see it and there is no fee.
