Steinbrenner Theatre debuted The Man of La Mancha in November, now quickly following it with The Isles and the Sea, a piece Centerstage developed under director Lindsay Warfield’s guidance. The Isles is a completely original piece; based solely on Irish folktales and poetry, the play is penned by Warfield herself with the help of the ensemble assembling its source material.
“It’s a literary adaptation,” said Warfield. “Everyone in Centerstage found Irish folktales and then the poems that matched them, and then I tied everything together. Throughout the show, William Butler Yeats’ poem, ‘The Stolen Child’, is broken up to tie things together for the audience.”
Unlike other productions the theatre has done in the past, this is an original piece. Taking “The Stolen Child” in broken stances allows the through line to develop, what is essentially focused on the fairies and changelings of Irish mythology. These creatures wreak havoc on humans, with a particular amount of morbidity being their main goal.
“The fairies really weave the tale,” said Warfield. “By the end, they’re successful in stealing human children.”
“The entire show is absolute poetry,” said senior Evan Alperstein. “It is poetry itself, but it’s more than that too. It’s a lot different than things we’ve done in the past.”
For One Acts, the theatre department always incorporates some amount of music into the play, this being no exception. Alperstein plays the role of a human as well as an animal, performing the song “The Song of Wondering Angus” accompanied by his guitar playing.
“We didn’t just grab a script and memorize lines,” said senior Julia Meeks. “It called for us to work as a group and make this really unique piece.”
After this show, Steinbrenner Theatre will prep their next play, their rendition of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. For the seniors involved in this production, a lot of nostalgia and emotion has gone into these performances.
“It’s bittersweet during this One Act,” said Meeks. “College and graduation being right around the corner, but knowing I’m leaving the program here… It’s a lot to consider, and it’s great ending my One Acts career with The Isles.”
The group performed the piece at the One Acts on Dec. 9, 2015. The results have already been posted and can be found on The Oracle twitter page.
Anthony Campbell // A&E Editor
