Features October 22,1998 j g
Students work long hours, become family in "Children of Eden"
Tammy Tripp
The Pendulum
Sounds. Lights. Costumes.
Scripts. Frenzy.
The “Children of Eden” have
worked hard in the garden; the tiny
dance studio that serves as a stage
has yielded plenty of fruit. But the
fruit has not grown without a great
deal of sacrifice.
The actors are dedi
cated to the stage and have
a special love for perform
ing. Rehearsal is five days
a week, from Sunday to
Thursday. Rehearsals be
gin at 6 p.m. and can end as
late as 10 p.m. or even mid
night.
The actors show a
great deal of patience. Se
nior Tara Taylor, who
plays Yonah, said that dur
ing a practice it is not un
usual to redo a scene sev
eral times.
“Sometimes we rehearse the
songs over and over, and my vocal
cords will get tired. It will be worth
it when the play runs, though,” she
said.
A video camera records the
actors during rehearsals to show
the directors scenes that need work.
Notes are taken on the performers
as well.
Outside of rehearsals, indi
vidual cast members spend time to
improve their characters. Sopho
more Ryan Dunn, who plays God,
shows a love for the theater and he
is dedicated to “Children of Eden.”
“I usually spend one to two
hours outside of rehearsal working
on the songs and practicing my
lines,” he said.
Much of the actors’ time is
spent rehearsing and little time is
left for homework and extracur
ricular activities. During rehears-
-
als, notebooks and even laptops are
spread across the floor. Homework
and studying lines for the upcoming
scene is done between scenes.
Actors and directors are not
the only people contributing to the
play. Preparation for the produc
tion began long before school
started. Work began for Bill Webb
and Dale Breker, directors of the
lighting and technical crew, in July.
Costumes and some props for
the play are rented. The actors are
fitted for the costumes after the cos
tumes are decided upon. The actors
practice applying makeup to add to
the effect of their costume.
The actors are quick to point
out that “Children of Eden” is not a
religious play, but a love story. The
play will not be a preachy show,
even though it is based loosely on
the first nine and a half chapters of
Genesis. It is also a play about
choices and the structure of fami
lies. One of the main
themes is the circle of the
human race and how it is
continuously repeated.
The actors play multiple
roles to illustrate the circle.
Dan Calloway stars first
as Adam and later as Noah.
The play does con
tain religious undertones,
but it does not strictly fol
low the Bible. Yonah,the
servant girl, is a character
that does not exist in the
Bible. She was added to
further illustrate the rela
tionship between humans.
The actors are challenged to
play Biblical roles.
‘Trying to portray God and
think as God would think has been
one of the biggest challenges,” said
Dunn.
“It has been difficult to dif
ferentiate between my personal re
lationship with God and between
Eve’s relationship with God,”
Nancy Snow, who plays Eve, said.
TTie creation story has been
modernized. The show does not
offer much dialogue, but places
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Jenny Jarnecke/r/7e Pendulum
Students rehearse long hours for “Children of Eden.”
more emphasis on the music. How
ever, the songs are far from tradi
tional. They are catchy with a quick,
upbeat tempo. And with “Children
of Eden” in only its second local
run, it is still fresh.
Cast and crew spend endless
hours at work but they all agree it
has been worth it. The cast spends
more than twenty hours a week to
gether and it has made them seem as
if they are one big family. And for
the four ni^ts that the show runs,
they will be.
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