Playgoers who want a more personal experience have two black box productions to choose from this weekend, with “Proof” at Franklin College and “The Wizard Delivers (and Pinky Stays the Course)” at Whiteland Community High School.
Both plays will run from Thursday to Sunday.
‘The Wizard Delivers’
When Whiteland High School students take the stage Thursday night, it will be the first time “The Wizard Delivers” ever goes before an audience.
Playwright Mark Rigney, whose plays have been produced in 22 states, along with Canada, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Nepal, met Whiteland High School play director Tara Sorg through an Evansville connection. Sorg graduated from the University of Evansville, while Rigney is from the city and is the husband of one of Sorg’s college professors.
The production follows a 19-year-old wizard, played by senior Clara Sorensen, who works at a strip mall pizza place. As a side hustle, the wizard sells teenagers advice on careers and college, but in an eccentric, wizardly way, Sorensen said.
This is Sorensen’s first lead role since she played “Hamlet” in a seventh-grade production of “I Hate Shakespeare.”
“I think it’s really just the experience of challenging yourself and putting yourself in another person’s shoes, trying to find part of that character that is also a part of you,” she said. “This play has never been performed before and it’s a different style of play, a black box, intimate setting. You feel like you’re right in the alley with the people. You can see for yourself if you think the wizard is a fraud or an intelligent genius or a scamming loser. You’re right next to the actors.”
Senior Chris Holman plays the character of Trevor Hardeson, a high school senior who has his reservations about the wizard’s advice. Holman is in just his second play, as he made his debut in the spring production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”
“He’s trying to get into a decent college before the holidays and he meets the wizard, who he’s not exactly faithful in,” Hardeson said. “His journey is about learning not everyone is out to get him, and even if people are acting out of self-interest or without experience, it’s not an excuse to write off everything they say.”
Mia Vitols, a freshman, plays the energetic character named Fortnite, who plays the video game frequently. Vitols made time for the role despite also being involved in marching band.
“All of the characters are so interesting, and some of the scenes are really funny,” Vitols said. “It’s really good and we put a lot of work into it.”
Rigney has been writing plays since 1998, and wrote “The Wizard Delivers” specifically for a high school cast.
“I have two kids, and my youngest just went to college. They’ve gone through the process of college applications and I thought, ‘what if someone completely inappropriate was giving advice to high school kids,’” he said.
He also wanted to write a play for an audience to be close to the actors, Rigney said.
“Theatre works best when the audience is compressed. In comedy clubs, it’s a mosh pit. When you get people in together they respond differently than out there,” he said, motioning to the rest of the auditorium.
Rigney has been mostly hands-off with how the play is performed, and has allowed Sorg and the cast to make slight alterations if needed, Sorg said.
“I think it’s intensely relatable, especially for students. The characters are 16 to 19 years old and they have to make choices about who they want to be,” she said. “It’s something that’s constantly contemplated well past 19. It’s quirky and relatable and a great balance of silliness and comedy.”
‘Proof’
Franklin College’s production of “Proof” involves darker themes.
The play by David Auburn follows Catherine, who spent years as a caretaker for her now-deceased father, Robert. After her father’s death, Catherine combs through her mathematician father’s potentially valuable volumes of work, but is interrupted by the presence of her estranged sister and a former student of Robert’s. “Proof” is a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, according to a Franklin College news release.
Jadyn List, a junior, plays the part of Catherine. List has been involved in theatre since middle school.
“She’s experiencing some severe depression, battling her father’s death and her overbearing sister at the same time,” List said. “I’m used to being a musical theatre kid, most roles I did were very comedic, and this is very dramatic. I think it’s about placing this into the real world. If this was happening would I react that way?”
Greenwood native Nate Irskens takes on the role of Robert, who, although deceased, appears in flashbacks as a brilliant but troubled man. Irskens is starring in a major role for the first time, after mostly playing side characters.
“I’m trying to convey the story of a man who is brilliant but lost his way. As you go through his mind, he ran out of juice,” he said. “The older he got, the more unstable he got, but he kept his intelligence all the way through.”
Senior Elliot McKinley acts as Hal, the overzealous student who has eyes on Catherine, as well as Robert’s work.
“He’s really awkward and doesn’t know how to socialize or talk to girls. He really wants to be in a relationship with Catherine but he prioritizes work over everything else and it creates a lot of problems throughout the play,” McKinley said. “This is my first lead role and it’s a lot to handle, but it’s a lot of fun playing a character that’s not like me.”
Claire, Catherine’s sister, is played by junior Lauren Minks. As with List, most of Minks’ theatrical origins came in the form of comedy and musicals.
“We’re adding something in every night (of rehearsal) and changing things to better the show. For us, it’s a lot of screaming matches between the characters, a lot of trying to get the lines down,” Minks said. “My character is the very opposite of who I am. She’s very prim and proper and I’m a more down-to-earth person. The thing that transforms me is putting on costumes, hair and makeup and changing who I am to the opposite end of the spectrum.”
Director Katy Thompson, who graduated Franklin College in 2021, is leading her first full-length production. Thompson said she wanted to pick a play that leaves a lot up to the viewer’s interpretation.
“I think it’s kind of a sad piece, it’s melancholic, it makes you question a lot of things and it never clears up those questions. It talks a lot about grief, mourning, mental illness, it talks about women in STEM, a lot of things,” she said. “Everyone in it worked really hard on it, and if nothing else, see it to support the students.”
IF YOU GO
‘The Wizard Delivers (and Pinky Stays the Course)’
Where: Whiteland Community High School auditorium
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Price: $10 general admission, $8 for students and staff members
For tickets: https://www.onthestage.tickets/whiteland-community-high-school
‘Proof’
Where: Théâtre Margot in the Johnson Center for Fine Arts
When: 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.
Price: $12 general admission, $8 for seniors and non-Franklin College students. Free for Franklin College students, faculty and staff members.
For tickets: email [email protected] or call 317-738-8029 or 800-852-0232, ext. 8029. Box office opens one hour before each performance.
