Last weekend, from Nov. 6 to 9, State High Thespians put on their annual fall play, this year’s being “Clue.” With a new director, comedic timing, rotating sets and talented actors, “Clue” brought the suspense and the laughter to the Black Box Theater.
“Clue” is a whodunnit comedy; the plot follows six guests who are invited to a dinner party at an unfamiliar mansion. When the host, Mr. Boddy, is murdered, the butler and the guests attempt to identify the killer, the weapon and the location before more wind up dead.
This year, Lily Sublett stepped into the role of theater director, to great success. She described the process behind choosing a play and what drew the theater department to put on “Clue.”
“Clue is a comedy, so there’s a new aspect of working with physical comedy and timing and pacing … while it is also a huge undertaking for the tech kids, because there’s 100 props, and there are scene changes that happen all the time, and we’re in a small space, so the set has to all be there the whole show,” Sublett said.
The tech team tackled this task with revolving scenes, set on turntables, that would spin to reveal new sections of the mansion. For example, one set would spin at different times to become the study, the kitchen and the library.
On top of that, Sublett emphasized how excited she was to be taking on a new role, especially as a State High theater alum.
“This is my absolute dream role, getting to work in a space doing what I love and getting to take it on as an educator and work with high schoolers,” Sublett said. “I’ve done a lot of community theater things. I have my own production company outside of here. So the directing part of it is what I love to do, but it’s also just life-giving to be able to work with students.”
One of Sublett’s favorite parts of working with students is watching actors fully embrace their roles, something that senior Hannah Smith had to do while playing Miss Scarlet. Smith, who is also the president of the Thespians Troupe, described what it was like to become her character.
“My last role in Thespians [during spring musical “Urinetown”] was just a really sweet and wholesome character, Hope Caldwell, that I just loved playing, and I knew that this was going to have to be a very different approach, as Miss Scarlet is a more scandalous [character],” Smith said. “It definitely took some time because I feel like this character is very different than my personality, and so it really took some time for me to get into the role and it just helped me grow as an actor, getting to explore someone so different from myself.”
There’s also more emphasis on characterization, because the play operates without musical elements, unlike the spring musical. That means that, although there’s no singing or dancing, actors get to hone in on their performance skills, something junior Anna Christopher worked on while playing Mrs. White.
“This is my first play since middle school, so it’s really cool to get this opportunity to focus on my acting skills and not the acting, and singing, and dancing all at the same time,” Christopher said. “This is [also] my first ever comedy, so it really has been a great time.”
Another aspect different this year is the introduction of understudies, actors who learn the same role as the overstudy, and are there to step in if the overstudy is unable to perform.
“It’s such a learning experience for a performer to get to go through the process of understudying because you don’t always get to run the whole show from start to finish, but you are still expected to be ready to do so,” Sublett said. “And that’s a thing they do in professional theater, but doing it at a high school level allows growth opportunities for more students, which is important, especially in a fall show where it’s a smaller cast than the spring musical.”
The actual performance was a raging success, with audience members shrieking from fear, as well as crying from laughter.
“At the end of the day, it’s just about the community and relationships and friendships you make heading into rehearsal every day,” Smith said. “Everyone [in Thespians] is so supportive and so kind, and it just inspires my love for theater and makes it grow stronger every day.”
