Tales of Trickery: a Senior Directed Play!

Photo Credits: Lane Peterson, the cast of the Tales of Trickery

Vestavia’s Theater program performs a variety of shows all year round. Most recently, they performed their Senior Directed Plays. Senior Directed Plays are a set of performances that are completed led and directed by the Seniors in the Vestavia Hills Theatre Department. For this article, I asked Madelyn Garrick, a junior in the theatre department, to tell me a little bit more about the process and the behind the scenes, the play itself, and what to expect in the future. 

The Senior-Directed Plays gives seniors the opportunity to directly involve themselves in the full process of creating and organizing a performance. This year, Vanessa Maxwell, Lane Peterson, Andrew Onken, and Maddox Dutton were the seniors that put together the one-act play, Tales of Trickery. Vanessa Maxwell directed the intro and outro and Lane Peterson, Andrew Onken, and Maddox Dutton all directed the different stories that made up Tales of Trickery. Auditions for the play took place earlier in the year and the seniors were in charge of casting for their show. After casting, seniors had the responsibility of scheduling rehearsals and getting all equipment and materials needed for the play. Madelyn mentioned that during rehearsals, seniors were able to help “the students in their directed play to grow as actors and be the best they can be on stage”, as well as how it was a “great way to connect with other actors and the seniors”. 

Tales of Trickery told three unique tales from Indonesian folklore. One show included characters such as a monkey and Barong, known as the King of Spirits in Indonesian culture, and best described as a mixture of a lion, dog, and dragon. Madelyn was the narrator for the story of the monkey and Barong. When asked about her favorite part, she said it was working with production. She also mentioned that theatre had a great sense of community in general and that everyone “were such lovely and fun people to be around!”. 

Although the Senior-Directed Plays took place on September 12, the Vestavia Hills Theatre Department plans on having senior shows performed at elementary schools, although the dates aren’t confirmed. So, if you missed out this play and are interested in attending one of the theatre department’s future productions, be on the lookout for some dates!