By Greg Roitbourd '22
This year, the Drama department here at NEST+m will be holding its very first-ever theater festival. This is a new idea that Mr. Yusah thought to implement which will most likely bring us all together. According to Mr. Yusah, “NEST+m Upper Grades Theater only hosts one drama production a year. For my first seven years teaching, I've been able to find plays that provide enough roles to give at least twenty students a rich experience onstage. But this year, we have grown the program larger than we've ever had (with nearly fifty students auditioning). In addition to that, we have a group of seniors whose devotion and talent for the performing arts has inspired me to seek beautifully challenging plays. Most plays that offer complex characters only cast 9-12 actors. So instead of having to turn dozens of talented students away from a year onstage, I decided to select three plays to showcase the spectrum of talent at our school. We also have an incredibly hard working and skilled tech crew that has grown both in numbers and in expertise. They will showcase their incredible commitment not only running all three shows (lights, sound, set, props, costume, producing) but also at the same time providing tech for the Middle Grades musical, BSU Teacher Talent Show and Black History Month Assembly, Lower Grades musical, and NEST Fest Talent Showcase.” There will be four acts performing: The Wolves by Sarah Delappe (10 actors), 12 Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose (13 actors), and Almost, Maine by John Cariani (20 actors), and our NEST+m Improv Troupe (14 actors). From January through March, students in The Wolves and 12 Angry Jurors rehearse 3-4 days a week, and Almost, Maine rehearses 1-2 days a week. The Improv Troupe practices every Thursday all year round. Tech Crew is constantly working gigs, sometimes five days a week depending on the season.
This year, Mr. Yusah is also getting help from Naya Kalogirou, ‘21, as somewhat of an assistant director in Almost, Maine. She is also currently acting in the cast of The Wolves. She believes “that everyone is putting their utmost effort into their own shows, and we are lucky to have directors that are also putting a lot of work in for us at the moment. I think that it’s hard to manage three plays in one marking period or so, but we seem to be handling it well enough. I think that along the way there have been many discrepancies and minor issues, which is mostly the cause of having so many members participating in the festival, and many shows to handle, but hopefully, our hard work will be able to get us through any other future bumps in the road.”
For the last few years, Mr. Yusah has also been getting help from other directors, like most other productions. “Eva Ravenal (an NYC actor and Wesleyan College drama program alumni) has helped to direct actors and stage crew. Last year, Bari Robinson (an NYC actor and Columbia University School of the Arts alumni) coached actors and is returning again this year to direct. And Lucas O'Neil (an NYC stand-up comedian) coaches improv comedy and will help direct actors as well. Pieter Voorhees each year generously makes himself available for carpentry; Julie Longmuire makes coordinating logistics and production feel less daunting and even loving; our Custodian Engineering team (lead by Stephen Marinaro and Edwin Ortiz) are overwhelmingly helpful with navigating the needs of our facilities; School Safety take their weekends to keep us safe during tech rehearsal; and of course our PTA, each year, is the backbone of our theater program--their devotion and volunteer service to the students is the only reason I have been able to provide any performing arts opportunities... simply put, none of this happens without their commitment and love. I don't know what I'd do without their encouragement and friendship.”
I also asked Mr. Yusah if he was thinking about doing something like this next year and he said, “I don't know. Each year feels incredibly different than the previous year. In my previous seven years at NEST+m, we've performed a one-act farce, a dark comedy, a dramatic fairy tale, a drama-comedy, a documentary drama, a couple of musicals... We'll see what we've got next year and what's out there that fits.”
We wish all of the casts good luck on their performances and acknowledge them for their hard work! Please come to help support the plays from April 1-4. More information will be handed out on a later date, but we hope to see you there!
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