Taking a look at Hammond’s next theatrical production

By Lynn Phillips

Staff Writer

Hammond’s Theatre program is putting on a play this fall called The Curious Savage. The play will premiere November 18th and show until the 20th. 

There will be two casts for the play. The main character, Mrs. Savage, is played by senior Rachel England and freshman Jenna Dodge. Aside from the main characters, there are more people in the amazing cast which will be posted down below. 

To really understand what goes on in a play, we went behind the scenes and interviewed the cast. The director, Mrs. Tobiason, chose this play because, “It’s a comedy and I wanted to have something that was fun after the last year and a half, and it’s a play I directed early in my time at Hammond, so I’m familiar with it.”

“It also has a stationary set which is like one setting inside of a house. And if you’ve noticed, our shop is gone because of the renovations. So we don’t have access to as much to build things, so [the setting] is one that has…a little bit simpler technical requirements,” She added.

A big play like this comes with some struggles, however. 

She talked about how the pandemic might affect this year’s play, “Yeah, well I guess with the pandemic [I’m] just worried about…overall number trends and right now we are in a space where we don’t have to limit capacity. I’m just hopeful that Covid numbers don’t thwart our plans.” 

So far, the only issue that Hammond’s theatre program may face are the impacts of the Coronavirus.

“Working in masks is very challenging for actors because so much of understanding what people are saying is actually seeing their mouths.”

To solve this issue, she says, “When they’re on stage, they will be wearing body microphones but even so, it’s still tricky to not have it muffled and things like that.” 

Even with the issues, there are always going to be positives.

Gertie Vance, a junior who plays Fairy May, says, “I’m just looking forward to people seeing live theatre again, because we haven’t had that in a while, and so I think it will be really nice to see something live.”

Julia Steinberg, a junior who plays Mrs. Willie, is looking forward to people seeing “…how big people can go with some of these really fun characters.”

Mrs. Tobiason said she’s looking forward to people seeing the play. “There’s a lot of very genuine sweet relationships between the characters in the play and I think that is fun… I think it will make people laugh and we have some goofy actors and seeing all their creative choices that they link to it is really fun too.”

Rachel England, who had played the lead in the first cast, tells what she thinks of this play, “I really like The Curious Savage. It’s an older play and it’s not as well known, but I do really enjoy it [and] the way it’s all being put together.”

Check out a link to the full cast list here: https://www.hammondhightheatre.org/the-curious-savage