2/10/2010 10:00:00 PM
Prescott High School actors tackle teen angst
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| Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier
“The Wrestling Season,”
featuring the Ruth Street Players, opens at Prescott High School’s Ruth Street Theater Thursday, Feb. 11.
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| Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier |
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PRESCOTT - Real high school students play-acting like real high school students in real high school situations - that's the premise of Prescott High School's new play, "The Wrestling Season."
"It's edgy and intense," said director Louisa Nelson.
"It's somewhat racy," added Tracey Mason, the technical director.
Throughout the one-hour play, the nine teenage boy and girl actors use wrestling as a metaphor for the conflicts, pressures, betrayals, false accusations and the complexity of high school friendships.
During the course of wrestling practice and a final match, the student actors show fellow students and the audience how their seemingly innocuous behavior can be destructive and cruel to each other, and how easy it is for outsiders to recognize.
"The play gets into real issues that teens can relate to," said Nelson, who has taught at Prescott High School for more than 30 years. "We did this about five years ago, and I had so many students come up to me and say that they saw their life in the play."
The set consists of a wrestling mat, weight bench and chairs. Costumes are wrestling uniforms. Audience members sit on stage around the mat. "The seating is limited, but the audience has to be on stage around the mat as if they are at a real wrestling match," Nelson said. "It wouldn't work if they were sitting out in the rows."
Willy, played by Carl Vanderpool, is a student wrestler jealous of teammate Matt, played by Patrick Brewer, and he starts a rumor that Matt and his best friend Luke, played by Liam Howard, are gay lovers.
The rumor grows, spreads and gets uglier with each student who repeats it until Matt and Luke start to believe it about each other. The rumor disrupts some friendships, which the audience learns are not as friendly as the teens pretend, and ultimately strengthens true friendships.
The drama students, called the Ruth Street Players, spent Christmas vacation learning to wrestle and the rules of the sport. Mason recruited Brewer, who is a wrestler, to teach his fellow students - boys and girls.
"It was easier with the guys - it came more instinctively," Brewer said. "With the girls, it was harder."
Nevertheless, the girls learned well - they flip and toss the boys around the mat like veteran wrestlers.
Although most of the students are seasoned actors, Alan Davis has his stage debut.
"This is my first play," Davis said. "It's a great experience. I haven't been this excited about something in a long time."
A line repeated throughout the play, "You think you know me, but I'm not sure I know myself," just about sums up high school students' lives.
Performances are 7 p.m. Feb. 11, 12 and 13 at the Ruth Street Theater, adjacent to Prescott High School on Ruth Street. Tickets cost $5 and are available at the theater box office, which opens at 6 p.m. before each performance.
Seating is limited. For more information about the play, call 445-2322, ext. 154.
"This play is just too much fun," Davis said.
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