Pauline Li Gaudefroy
You could be anywhere in the world today, but you have decided to be at Saint Maur. And what better thing to do than experience Saint Maur’s greatest show? Everyone’s been waiting for this moment! The moment where history takes a turn; the moment where the high school dramatists showcase their abilities with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time! (Only on March 14-16). If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, buy them now! For this play has an interesting stage–compact and tight. Have fun breathing your neighbor’s sweat as they watch the plot unravel.
Production poster
But wait. Why should you come watch this year’s play? Well don’t fret, because Mr. G is here to answer your questions! The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a “show unlike anything you will have seen at Saint Maur before,” says Mr. G, “The story is told from the perspective of 15 year-old Christopher, who has autism. It starts off as a murder mystery but ends up being something much deeper as Christopher has to confront his own fears and find a way to navigate the world.”
And if that doesn’t motivate you, just wait until you hear the awesome music solely composed by Saint Maur students. It’s electric, it’s magnetic, it’s everything you need for a retro night-out at the disco! But this isn’t a night at a party, is it? Mr. G explains that the lighting, sound, music, projection, and physical theater is all part of the plan to fully immerse the audience into Christopher’s world. Plus, you get to breathe down the actors’ neck (if you pick the right seats) because they’ll be onstage the entire time!
Cast
This year’s drama play does not only feature two different sets of casts, but also two Christophers! That is, the protagonist of the story. So let’s hear what they have to say about their experience behind the scenes, and why everyone should come watch!
Michelle (G9) plays Mrs. Alexander and easily explains the core reasons as to why this production is worth seeing. “How we’re doing the play this time around is very, very different from the past iterations. We’re not using many props and we’re not using a proper set. We just have the boxes, and so that adds a really interesting dynamic to watching it and seeing how the actors manipulate the set to give off a certain feel.”
She describes her time on set as a nice experience of watching people “figure out the different scenes” such as “watching actors like Luke figure out their character and figure out how they’re supposed to move and their mannerisms. And then seeing them grow into that character during dress rehearsals and things like that [is] really interesting to me.”
Rei (G12), who plays the kindhearted Siobhan, also agrees with Michelle’s claims and says that this play is “quite unique from all the other classic plays in the last three to four years. […] Mr. G is excellent at adapting novels into [plays]. So, the way that he takes bits and pieces from the novel and mixes it with the script that already exists, you [can] get the impact of the novel [visually]. So it’s easier to understand the storyline and how an autistic person sees the world, even though there’s different types of autism out there. It’s a great play to raise awareness, so I think you should come watch the play.”
Rei’s favorite thing about being part of the cast so far is “being able to see how the ensemble people are so talented and able to work together. So it’s really interesting and a good experience for me to be able to see the talent of the new actors and actresses.”
Luke (G10), the actor who plays Christopher in the beginning of the show, believes that a “big part of what makes this show special is the representation of an autistic character in this play.” He goes on to state that, despite this show being abstract and very physical, a problem with our generation is that we “often make fun of people with neurodivergence or with disorders that have to do with social ability, because sometimes those jokes can be funny, and sometimes people will make fun of them without really intending to hurt people. But I think by turning so many of these people into a punchline, we inadvertently make them feel less human, And that’s what I really want to tackle with this show.”
Cast during rehearsal
Something that Luke enjoyed a lot during his time on stage was the chemistry the cast shared between them, sharing jokes and making each other laugh. “There’s not a single day on set that I have not laughed when we rehearsed,” he says. “The truth is that no one here does Drama Club just because it’s for credit. The truth is we do this because it’s fun to us.You get to talk to these people two, maybe even three times a week, and I think that itself is kind of its own reward.” Well spoken Christopher- I mean, Luke.
Yuta (G11), who plays Christopher in the second Act of the show, believes people should “come watch because it is a really unique show. We haven’t done anything like this before–featuring an autistic character–and we are trying to portray this in a really interesting way and I think everyone should come and watch this new type of show that we’re doing.” If that isn’t enough proof for you to come watch, I don’t know what is!
His favorite part of being part of the cast was “being able to work with amazing cast members,” like Luke, his co-star, who helped him a lot in this journey. He’d also like to thank all the other members of the drama club who helped me greatly through the process of rehearsal.
Lastly, this year’s drama production features two actors playing the same character at the same time; Luke (G10) and Yuta (G11). So how does it feel knowing that you are the same? For one, Luke was skeptical at first about Mr. G’s decision (never doubt Mr. G), however he soon realized how grateful he was for this turn of events because, if you go watch the show, Christopher talks a lot. “I don’t have the capacity in my brain to do mock exams and also study a hundred pages of yapping,” he explains.
For Yuta on the other hand, he initially thought that it was going to be plain and simple. “We just [had to] play these characters differently,” Yuta says, “But I realized that we have to try to find a way to integrate, the way we play, portray these two characters together, and tell this one story. I found it a bit difficult at first, but I think it was a really interesting challenge for me. And, although there are many lines, I think it was a very, very fun experience to work with Luke.”
Of course, we can’t forget about the other wonderful actors who contributed so much to bring this play to life. The others go as follows: Parth (G9), Pauline (G9), Nuo (G9), Hinata (G10), Masaya (G10), Rosa (G10), Sakura (G10), Taikan (G10), Kai (G11), Yakumo (G12).
Crew
Mr. G also has a great group of kids to thank for working so hard in the dark; the crew! Without their hard work, the drama club wouldn’t have amazing lighting, cool props, and a very interactive set to play around with (though limited). Clement (G12), who is Head of Tech, described his experience as “nice” because he’s been able to “experience many different aspects. At the same time, I’ve learned what being a manager is, [which is a] lot less fun when you have to take care of some slightly immature people. But it’s nice what I’ve learned, [even though it’s] not really much because I already know a lot about technical theater.” His enjoyment of playing and experimenting can reflect the sentiments of many crew members too.
We also have to give a major round of applause to the crew for working hard after school in preparing the set, the sound effects, the props, and so much more!
Cast during rehearsal
Finally, Mr G would like to “thank the whole cast and crew for their tremendous work on this project. They have sacrificed a lot of time and energy to this and we have tried our best to stay true to the story and to Christopher himself. I also want to thank Mr Levy and Ms Littani for all their help (as always!) in helping make this world come to life in a visually engaging way. Special shout-out to our Seniors, both in the cast and crew, who will be leaving us after this production. I hope they feel that this is a high note to end their high school careers on.”
Pauline Li Gaudefroy