All things – even high school plays come to an end. It was a wonderful full experience. Two months ago, we started our talk of the grieving process and the hospice movement in the United States. It was strange, uncomfortable ground for all of us. I was often asked, “Why would you want to take teenagers down this sad, sad, very sad route?” I disagree. I find the play to be joyous. The one thing that makes life so beautiful is that there is a precious portion of it for us to enjoy. “This smile This face. This moment” – to quote the words of the play.
Theatre in high school is rich in wonderful traditions. One tradition that has always meant something to me is the tradition of signing programs for each other. Much like signing a yearbook, it becomes a way to commemorate a play, a group of people, and a passion. We had become a family and we “want to leave some traces.” I am inviting my cast and management team to leave comments about this experience on my blog. I want them to sign MY program. I want to hold on to them and to this moment.
6 comments on “Shadow Box – – Sign my Program”
I was the Stage Manager for this show, and I owe my entire future to Mr. Higgins and Shadow Box. It’s this play that carried me to NYU’s directing program, and it is this play that introduced me to the true directing experience. It was not a job to stage manage this show, but it was a privilege. The last night of the show, I looked down from the grid and I no longer saw my best friends performing a “sad” show about death, but I discovered a moment of raw theatre and connection. I saw actors take on the hardest roles they’ve ever had, and I saw them execute these roles with precision and dedication, and it was through Mr. Higgins guidance and care for this show that the actors were able to do more than just a show, for they changed people’s lives, especially mine. So one last time, I thank you Mr. Higgins for guiding us and giving us our moment. After your 20+ years of work on this show, I’m sad that it’s over, but in the words of Michael Cristofer, “This Moment- It doesn’t last forever.”
I was the Assistant director and I had such an amazing time in this process. I learned many valuable lessons and am eager to apply them to everything I do. Mr.Higgins’ passion for theatre really rubbed off on me during our time working on this show; this show affected me in ways I would never expect. Each rehearsal I would be blown away by something different and make discoveries that really made me think of new things. I think this is what theatre is all about, and I’m so thankful that I got to experience that magic through The Shadow Box.
This play terrified me for the longest time. Reading it for the first time long before even the auditions, I was overwhelmed, both by the beauty of it and by its challenge. This play made me laugh and made me cry. Having recently lost my grandfather, it resonated quite strongly with me. Its topic and execution felt downright holy, for lack of a better word. I felt as if I touched it I might taint it. Thus, despite falling in love with the characters and the story, I was apprehensive to audition. The subject of death to me was completely out of my grasp and unreal, despite its consistent intergration into my life, I’ll be it indirectly. (My parents both work in hospitals: my mother as a doctor and my father as a chaplain.) I thought I couldn’t do it justice. However, I soon realized that death is completely within my grasp and it will be a part of my life no matter what I do. Avoiding it would be like “pulling the cart without the horse. Or is that a poor analogy?” So I auditioned for the one character that I felt most connected with, despite our stark differences on paper: Beverly. She was loud mouthed, crude, and hilarious. Though I hardly embody any of her vivaciousness, I felt I could relate to her heart, her desire to please, and her strong will to protect those she felt needed it. Beverly was a wild card, and she did her very best to take death and dying and put a spin on it, dress it up in funny clothes, and turn it into the evening’s fool. Playing her allowed for me to realize that death isn’t always crying and punching holes in the wall, although there certainly is and always be a time and place for that. It’s a time for laughing, singing, dancing, and spontaneous visits. Death isn’t an inherently evil or bad thing. It is unknown, and that’s why it’s reviled. Because it’s scary. This show stripped some of my fear of death. While I know no matter how hard I try I will never be immune to its affects, I am comforted by the fact that it is something we will all experience and react to differently and that’s okay. For me, this entire show was a lesson in saying “it’s okay.” Death is egalitarian. Respond to it how you may, it will not judge you for it.
This show has made me a better person and performer. Learning about comedy, drama, and with value of simplicity, I am thankful for this experience and its effect on my acting skills. I’ve never felt more connected to a cast or myself in my life and I hope that this newfound internal communication will continue, both in my (hopeful) career and my life. That being said, whether I become an actress or not, this show taught me to dance, not care who’s watching or if I’m even in rhythm(trust me, I’m probably not), but to simply dance until the song runs out. After all, we only get to once.
(Apologies for this being incredibly long and possible typos)
My name is Avery and I had the wonderful opportunity to play Joe in shadowbox and I have to say it was by far the best theatre related experience of my life. I loved everything about Joe and the way Mr. Higgins allowed me to portray him. It’s not often that you find such a rich masculine Americana type character that still has as much depth and humor as Joe. Mr. Higgins allowed me to take liberties with Joe and truly make him my own. I would also like to thank Mr. Higgins for the care and sensitivity he gave to each character and the play as a whole. When I was very young I lost my father to an illness and it has forever changed my life. Much of what I think a grown man is comes from the memories I have of my father so a lot of who I made Joe to be was my father. Mr. Higgins knowing this detail of my life made sure to be sensitive, respectful, and most importantly he helped me draw real world connections from my life. Mr. Higgins wonderful directing has helped me become a far more advanced and emotionally available actor so for that thank you so much.
My name is Preston Pittman, and I portrayed the character of Mark. I must say, from the very first time I read this play, I was hooked on Cottage #2 and the struggles that were experienced within it. I knew that Mark was the role for me and I dove into the character and began to prepare for the audition. As auditions and callbacks passed, Mr. Higgins slowly and surely started to help the cast and I discover these characters for our own. We melded them carefully and modeled them based off people who were/are close to us. He gave each one of us a copy of “On Death and Dying” to help us connect even deeper to the pain these characters were experiencing and ground the work. Three months later, you wouldn’t believe the impact this play had on people! Standing ovations, tears, and lives changed. It was the most gratifying experience for me as an actor, and I can’t be more thankful to have been a part of it.
How cool is it that some of the people involved in this play have left comments?
Awesome.
I remember how exciting it was to have the yearbook signed. You look back on these things later on and cherish them. They bring back memories because so much of what’s said when signing them are directly related to the experience itself, you remember certain things about people and the effect they had on you.
To me, that’s priceless.
If my yearbook wasn’t tucked away somewhere that would require me to dig, I’d get it out after reading this post – just to experience this as well.
These days we have blogs as well. Just another way to go about this.