{"id":4048,"date":"2018-11-09T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.pages.roanoke.edu\/?p=4048"},"modified":"2018-11-09T08:00:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:00:34","slug":"theatre-rc-preparing-for-upcoming-our-town-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=4048","title":{"rendered":"Theatre RC Preparing for Upcoming ‘Our Town’ Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Charissa Roberson<\/em><\/p>\n

Within the catacombs of Olin Hall, the cast and crew of RC\u2019s upcoming play \u201cOur Town\u201d are deep in preparations for opening night, now less than a week away. \u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone to remember that everything will be okay,\u201d said junior Joseph Swift, who plays George Gibbs, one of the two central characters. With a cast and crew of about 40 people, just getting everyone together for rehearsals is difficult, and tackling the play itself\u2014a monument of American theater\u2014is a daunting endeavor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Thornton Wilder, \u201cOur Town\u201d focuses on the community of Grover\u2019s Corners, a small town in the early 1900s, as the residents navigate the ordinary yet miraculous events of life, love and death. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love the play,\u201d said Dr. Lisa Warren, who directs the production. \u201cI believe in what the play says. It\u2019s old-fashioned, but at the same time it\u2019s timeless.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur Town\u201d captures little moments of everyday life and imbues them with a universal and eternal value in a way that resonates to people of all ages. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited for the audience to connect,\u201d Swift said. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty multi-generational audience that I think will be able to enjoy this play.\u201d For the cast, the deceptive simplicity and understated emotion of the story demand an intimate knowledge of their characters. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever gone this far in depth with a character before,\u201d said freshman Claire McDonald, who acts opposite Swift as the play\u2019s protagonist Emily Webb. McDonald is one of a remarkable 9 freshmen participating in this fall\u2019s production. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Jane Ruppert, another first-year student taking on a major role, comments on the difference between the theatre program at Roanoke and the plays she did in high-school. \u201cWe devoted a lot less time to it,\u201d said Ruppert. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot more professional here, which I think is cool.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

For many cast members, this play marks either their first Theatre RC production or, for more seasoned members like sophomore Adeline Huggins, another kind of first. \u201cI\u2019m excited because this is my first time having a lead here,\u201d said Huggins. The excitement also extends to simpler things, as McDonald eagerly shares that she has an upcoming fitting for her wedding dress, which she will wear during the play\u2019s second act. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the pressure of opening night is mounting, the cast and crew are rising to the challenge. \u201cI think everyone is working really well together,\u201d said stage manager junior Emma Daisey. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who are not involved in theater that are in this play, which is great.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur Town\u201d opens on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Theater, followed by three more performances from Nov. 15-17. Theatre RC is honored to present this classic production of everyday life and the underlying presence of eternity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Charissa Roberson Within the catacombs of Olin Hall, the cast and crew of RC\u2019s upcoming play \u201cOur Town\u201d are deep in preparations for opening night, now less than a week away. \u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone to remember that everything will be okay,\u201d said junior Joseph Swift, who plays George Gibbs, one of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}