Wellesley -
At last count, over 37,000 people in 18
countries wanted to be Jane. Even though Norman is reluctant at
first, he agrees to play Jane as over 30 groupies reenact “The Term
Paper.” Jane has been assigned a paper, but can she beat
Procrastination, the Nymphs of Slumber, Time, and Stewart in order
to promptly hand the paper in to her evil teacher, Ms. Sniperly?
Feeling a little baffled by all this? Find out
more by attending Wellesley Middle School’s version of “The
Chronicles of Jane, Book Seven,” a play full of teen energy,
“actors, light and space” (author’s note) as written by Alan Haehnel
and directed by Kara Sullivan, with permission granted by Baker’s
Plays. The only things missing are the props.
The groupies make Jane’s room, desk, chair and
all the fun. Well… that’s not completely true. The fun is really
created by the whole seventh- and eighth-grade cast, Kara Sullivan,
a seven-member Tech club, tech director Phil Sequeira, and the many
fantastic parent volunteers, including Susan Logue, Susan Petralia,
and Christin Gillooly.
Practice for “Jane” began in October but was
postponed and started up again in February. Since then, the cast has
met every Wednesday and Friday from 2:40 to 4:30 to rehearse. The
two public performances are Thursday, May 7, starting at 4 p.m. and
Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m. On May 9, “Jane” will be taken to
the Massachusetts Drama Festival in Framingham, where it and five
other shows will be performed in front of a panel of judges. In
assessing the performances, the judges will use a rubric that
evaluates everything from character development to projection to
technical elements. Schools are truly competing against themselves,
in that each school will receive a bronze, silver, or gold medal
based on the judges’ evaluation. All the plays are limited to 30
minutes. Festival tickets, gaining admission to all six shows, cost
$10.
I have enjoyed getting to know the other 36
members of the cast and crew this year. As an eighth grader who has
been involved in several plays, I am sad to leave the wonderful
drama program here at Wellesley Middle School, but am proud to have
“Jane” as my final production.
