Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home High School will present its annual play, “The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners” May 5-6.
“It’s a story about a kid who dies in an accident at school,” said Alain Brown, director. “The kids have a kind of mock trial to find who’s responsible for the death of this kid.”
Parents are invited to what they believe will be a school play, but the students invite the parents onto the stage and begin the trial, Brown said. They accuse the janitor of pushing the student off of a fire escape.
The trial continues through a series of flashbacks, captured with a complete blackout and an intense spotlight that leaves the rest of the stage in blackness. The flashbacks look at a series of adults who may have cut corners inspecting the fire escape or failed in some other way, leading to the death.
“It ends with a kind of climactic plea,” Brown said, to resolve problems revealed throughout the play.
The play has 26 characters and 26 cast members, Brown said. Everything is ready to go, and the cast members are rehearsing their lines.
“I feel pretty comfortable with where they are,” he said. The cast has a number of obstacles with other extra-curricular schedules. The cast has members in the choir and track.
“There’s some pretty meaty roles the kids have,” Brown said. Jacob Miner will have a Slavic accent throughout the entire play. He has worked with Masha Gourley, a student who moved to Sweet Home from the Ukraine, to perfect it.
Overall, it’s a large group of veterans. Three new actors will appear, including Jessica King, Sequoia Stroup and Brice Roberts.
Returning multi-play veterans include Jakob Holden, Megan McCartin, D.J. Burns, Zane Jackson, Michael Connelly, Jacob Miner, Kyle Moore-McKay, Jeff Bennett, Shelby Wymetalek, and Candalynn Johnson.
Returning after a single play are Masha Gourley, David Skeen, Haley Swanson, Dylan Eddings, Michelle Carper, Sara McCartin, Jordanna Harvey, Takara Robertson, Amy Frentz, Kristen Peterson, Nicki Allshire, Cody Cannon and Bret Moran.
Ashley Garrett is returning as assistant director after working on multiple plays.
“She has been on top of things, helping with a lot of stuff,” Brown said. She has especially helped out with coordinating the cast. “It makes the whole process smoother.”
The play is 70 pages and about 1 1/2 hours long.
Admission is $5 for a family, $3 for adults and $2 for students and senior citizens. It begins at 7:30 p.m. each night in the high school auditorium.
Brown said proceeds will help raise funds for a light-board, something that will help everyone who uses the Sweet Home High School auditorium.
Right now, eight dimmers control the lighting, Brown said, and it takes four sets of hands to make them all go dark at the same time.