Character interaction drives fall play
September 23, 2015
By Anna Indelli
Grief is the emotion outlined in “The Dream of The Burning Boy,” this year’s fall play. The show follows the friends and family of a boy who dies of a brain aneurysm as they come to terms with his death.
While many friends of the boy are featured in the show, it centers more around how his sister and his girlfriend cope.
“[My character’s] kinda all over the place,” said senior Melissa Spacapan, who plays girlfriend Chelsea. “She’s having a hard time with the loss of her boyfriend, and [she’s] trying to get through it the best way she knows how.”
Chelsea becomes involved with her boyfriend’s best friend after his death, and her relationship with her boyfriend’s sister Rachel deteriorates.
“[Rachel is] a very cold and sarcastic person at first,” said senior Kit Fitzgerald, who plays the character. “Throughout [the show,] you realize it’s her just trying to figure everything out.”
The show focuses on the different ways of going through grief and important loss. The heaviness of that driving force is clearly shown in the play.
“There’s a lot of high tension scenes, but there’s also a lot of resolving scenes,” Fitzgerald said. “[The characters] aren’t necessarily fixing things, but they’re in a better place.”
“The Dream of The Burning Boy” has a cast of seven. Because of the small size, the show will take place in the community room instead of the theater.
“In the theater, you feel like you have a safety net because the audience is so far away from you,” Spacapan said. “In the community room, it makes you dig into the emotions because you realize the audience is right there.”
“The Dream of The Burning Boy” will be shown in the Prospect community room Sept. 24-26 at 7 pm.