‘Still Life With Iris’ is engaging, thoughtful, and a good evening at the theater…

Director Bristol takes a moment after the show to check in with sister Desi (Mozart) to see which way they're going....

There are plots & subplots in the Friday Harbor High Drama Group’s production of Steven Dietz’s Still Life With Iris, and when it all comes together in the end, it makes for a satisfying evening at the Community Theatre.

There were a lot of proud parents in the crowd, including Sean's dad Bill....

The play is the story of a young girl (Iris, played by sophomore Sarah Clark) who is searching for both her lost memory and her home. She wends her way through poems (Annabel Lee, played by Liz Bateman), music (Mozart, played by Desirae Whalen), and all kinds of challenges presented by Mr. Matternot (Sam Asher, in one of his stronger performances), who works for the Greater Goods (Sean McLaughlin & Me’Tairie Kilpatrick-Boe), who hope to adopt her & take her to their island. She is able to return to Nocturno, her home, with the help of her new friends and with the help of learning important lessons which she finds within herself.

I happened to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last week, and like that story, this play does a nice job of spotlighting how the loss of one’s past can hurt one’s sense of the future, or place in the present.

The director thanks her assistant director after Thursday's performance...this weekend's shows mark Fred's 20th and last year with the FHHS drama program.

This show marks the 20th year that Fred Yockers has been involved in putting on plays with FHHS students, and he tells me this is his last.

I’ve gotten to see 17 of those 20 shows, and in keeping with his penchant for making every show very different from the year before, this one’s pretty different, too, starting with his decision to assign the director’s chair to someone else.

In November, he handed the directorial reins over to FHHS grad, former lead in Don Quixote here, and Pacific Lutheran (’10) grad Bristol Whalen, who coaxed believable characters out of her young actors.

Matthew Mazzarella and Jerusha Turner celebrate a well-done show....

It’s a great experience for her, both to direct a show at this level and to be mentored by one of the island’s most creative minds. She keeps the Yockers tradition of challenging his students with a challenging play alive, with a good result.

A great man, who we’ve been lucky to have around. Great kids. Great show. There are still three performances left – don’t miss this one.

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