Working really works

There is still time to get tickets for this new play Thursday night. Diana Mancel attended a rehearsal last Wednesday at the Community Theater and she has this to report:

Friday Harbor High School’s production of Studs Terkel’s “Working”, opens this week at the Community Theater

Studs Terkel once said he was “celebrated for celebrating the uncelebrated.”  That is certainly an apt description of his play, Working, being presented by Jane Maxwell Campbell’s group of teenage actors, starting Thursday, January 17 and playing through Sunday the 20th.

The play is about, well, working.  There is the tie salesman who dreams of moving up the corporate ladder, and a woman who is getting arthritis from doing repetitive factory work in dreadful conditions; a steelworker,  a waitress, a firefighter, and several more intriguing voices on the stage.

Click for more of the story and photos from Wednesday’s rehearsal – 

Working  is a series of vignettes of everyday workers and how they feel about their jobs.  The stonemason’s story is accompanied by a song…he builds a house, with his hands – it shows you who he was, a life goes fast….

At rehearsal on Wednesday night, Campbell was putting the actors through their paces, reminding them about volume, character, and playing to the heat of the stage lights. There is an astonishing amount of raw talent in these kids, and they are stepping into their roles with growing confidence.

After a couple of hours of running the teens through their lines, giving specific directions to enhance parts, reworking the marks and hashing out the lighting, Campbell gathered her tired actors around her for a wrap up.

“I am not teaching theater here,” she told them.  “I am teaching self confidence and self esteem. I want you to give back to me what I am giving to you.”

Don’t miss a performance of this play!  Tickets are available at the box office or online at sjctheatre.org.

Me’ Tairie Kilpatrick-Boe

L to R – Skyler Moeder, Nick Bey, Bridget Booth & Josh Sheppard

Me’Tairie Kilpatrick-Boe and Nick Bey

Lenora Johnson

Ryan Crawford

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.