theHword.com

TheHWord.com is featuring several posts related to a theatre production being presented by the Hastings Junior Community Theatre (HJCT). This group will be performing “Higher” and “Illinois Jane and the Pyramid of Peril” this weekend.

Both student directed one-acts will be performed this Friday and Saturday (June 4 and 5) at 7 pm at the Hastings Community Theatre in Good Samaritan Village. A special family matinee of “Illinois Jane” only is at 2 pm on Saturday.

This post contains two reports. Enjoy!

Lighting the Stage

By Austin Edmonson

This summer I have been given, yet again, the great opportunity to work with the Hastings Junior Community Theatre. In the past, I have spent my summers at the Community Theatre acting in shows or working as a “pee on” crew member, but this time around I have been given the honorable position of lighting designer, as well as acting in both shows. It’s a daunting task, but it has proven to be a great learning experience.

One month ago when I accepted the responsibilities of lighting director I couldn’t have told you more than two facts about lighting, but thankfully Chris Cottam has a lot of faith in youth. When rehearsals started, I began to come up with some crazy ideas for lighting. Little did I know how tough it would be to make these ideas come to life, but with help from some more experienced lighting technicians, I have come up with a simple lighting scheme that will work great for both shows. Though the design is far from ready for opening night, I have great faith that it will turn out OK.

This experience so far has been very exciting for me. It has allowed me to get my creative juices flowing and learn about a part of theatre that I was once clueless about. I have had a blast doing this, and couldn’t think of a better way to spend my free time.

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Austin Edmondson will be an upcoming freshmen at Benedictine college next fall, majoring in elementary education and theatre. Austin enjoys acting and singing, and likes to spend his free time on the stage or preparing for vocal competitions.

Austin has enjoyed his time in Hastings and is excited to go on to college.

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Ever wish you were someone else?

By Katlin Lang

Everybody has those moments when they wish they were someone else – some more frequently than others. There are those who act on such moments and actually become someone else. Those people are more commonly known as “actors.”

What really sets actors apart is the ability to let the character consume them. From the opening scene to the final bow, the character is alive and an actor’s true self is momentarily forgotten. To perfect such a performance is key to a successful theatre play. Hastings Junior Community Theatre is an ideal place to discover and practice this key within one’s self.

I was introduced to HJCT last summer by serendipity.

The theatre was short on cast members, a friend of a friend gave the director my number, and I was asked to come in for a reading. They decided I would work and offered me a part. All they needed was a ‘yes’ from me. After a couple of days, I gave them that yes. Tentatively.

I was scared out of my mind. The only theatre experience I had ever had was in high school. I didn’t know any fancy terms. I often confused my stage directions. I didn’t even know theatre was spelled “t-h-e-a-t-r-e.” I thought it was “t-h-e-a-t-e-r”! Needless to say, I felt out of place and uncomfortable. I felt like a country bumpkin that had been dumped in the middle of a troupe of world-renowned, refined thespians.

As the performance dates neared and I survived more practices, I realized this HJCT wasn’t so threatening. All my fellow cast mates were friendly and easy-going and the adults involved with the shows were fantastic role models. I’ve met lots of new people, but more importantly, I met a lot of new friends. My head was quickly filled with new techniques and I felt more confident in my acting. Much of what I learned that summer I still use today (especially how to properly walk in heels.).

This summer’s shows are still a new experience.

Both plays are student directed. Learning to respect and to take suggestions and criticism from peers you know personally is a difficult thing to do. Being able to do it successfully, and at such a young age, is something really impressive. Most importantly, we’re having fun while doing so. We also have the privilege of having the playwright for one of the plays to be present during some rehearsals and answer any questions we may have.

Hastings Junior Community Theatre has not only been a great experience for me but for every youth that has walked through its doors. It has taught us skills we can take to the future: responsibility, dependability, respect, dedication, teamwork and much more. It also gives us that chance to get away from the world and pretend we’re someone else for a little while.

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Katlin Lang lives in Fairfield and will attend Sandy Creek High School in the fall as a senior, where she is involved in many activities – a favorite being the speech/forensic team. She lives with her two supportive parents and a protective older brother, all of whom she loves very much. The presence of three country cats, an elderly Catahoula Leopard dog, a rambunctious Pembroke Corgi Welsh and a flock of doltish sheep enchant her life. She enjoys singing off-tune and dancing uncoordinatedly to all genres of music, researching various events in history, bike rides, scribbling down notes of observations, watching movies, concerts and travel around on outdoor adventures.

About the author: Christine Cottam

Christine Cottam’s life is regularly interrupted with bursts of spontaneous song and dance. She teaches voice in her privately owned Studio C and is a music and theatre student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Christine is the chair for the Hastings Junior Community Theatre where she also directs summer theatre for teens. She lives with her husband, two kids, two cats, two frogs, and one freakishly fast snail.