Play offers entertaining, educational experience
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Local actor Mike Clarke is playing Henry David Thoreau in a production of the play, “Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau,” at the Heartwood Center. The play is a collaboration between the Pend Oreille Arts Council and Unknown Locals Productions. Students from Forrest Bird Charter School got to see the play Friday before it opened up to the public as part of POAC’s Ovations Education Program. The final production is tonight at 6:30 p.m.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Local actors Seneca Cummings, left, and Cory Repass, right, are performing as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Joshua Barnett respectively in a production of the play, “Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau,” at the Heartwood Center.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Local actors Nicole Buratto, left, and Mike Clarke, right, are performing as Rachel Stuers and Henry David Thoreau in a production of the play, "Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau," at the Heartwood Center. The play is a collaboration between the Pend Oreille Arts Council and Unknown Locals Productions. The final production is tonight at 6:30 p.m.
SANDPOINT — In 1845, Henry David Thoreau built a cabin near Walden Pond where he lived for two years, two month and two days.
"Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau," is a two-act, four-character fictional play documenting the last two days of his life in the cabin.
The Pend Oreille Arts Council and Unknown Locals Productions teamed up to bring the play to the community. Before opening for Friday and Saturday's public performances, the actors hit the stage to perform for the students of Forrest Bird Charter School as part of POAC's Ovations Education Program.
"Through that (program), with every performance we bring in for the public, we also do a student performance, workshop or master class," said Hannah Combs, POAC's director of events.
The Ovations Education program started in the 1980s, and an educational element is added in with each performance, typically seven or eight times a year, Combs said. For the workshops and master classes, artists, actors and musicians go into the schools to teach students different aspects of their related fields.
After performances such as Friday's, a Q&A period is held so the students can ask questions of the cast and director. Combs said the students are also given a list of questions to complete after the show regarding what they got out of it, what they learned about the historical characters and more.
"So it's educational and it's entertaining," Combs said.
Unknown Locals director Madeline Elliott and her husband, Chris Herron, started producing plays in 2011 and officially started the productions company in 2013. Herron is a local writer, who has written several original plays — Elliott said they produced their sixth original play this summer. She said they do a mix of original plays along with more well-known titles, such as works by William Shakespeare.
"We try to foster projects that the community wants to see and wants to be involved in," Elliott said.
With Thoreau's 200th birthday in July of this year, POAC board members thought it would be a good educational opportunity for students and the community, Elliott said.
"We've been (producing plays) for several years because we want to entertain people, entertain the community, and provide an opportunity for the community to get involved in theater," Elliott said. "The opportunity to be able to expand that to students, that educational aspect, is really exciting for me."
The 84 students who attended Friday's production ranged from grades eight to 12. Michael Bigley, English teacher for FBCS, said he and two other teachers of chemistry and government, all felt the play would be relevant to their subjects.
Bigley said what he enjoyed about the play, it is about the life of a writer.
"It's about the labor and solitude, but what you are doing, after all, in writing, is trying to reach other people," Bigley said. "So it is that sort of dilemma that they go through."
It is a good lesson, Bigley said, particularly for students who are interested in writing.
During the Q&A, the students were full of questions, which the actors did their best to answer. The cast includes Mike Clarke as Thoreau and Seneca Cummings as Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as Cory Repass and Nicole Buratto, who played the fictional characters of Joshua Barnett and Rachel Stuers respectively.
Some questions posed by the students surrounded the life of Thoreau, such as, "Did he ever marry and have kids?" The answer, of course, was no — he died of tuberculosis at the age of 44. They also asked whether some of the things were symbolic, such as the opening and closing of the window, and leaving the candle lit as Thoreau left the cabin. The cast members could guess at the symbolism, but said only the playwright would know what he truly meant by writing the actions into the play.
Toward the end of the Q&A, Clarke had some advice for the students as they grow up and enter the world as adults.
"Your wonderful ideas and your ability to change the world ... it won't mean anything unless you do something about it," Clarke said. "If you are stuck in stasis like Henry David Thoreau was at Walden Pond, you do nothing for everyone else."
The public production of "Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau," continues tonight. Door open at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. in the Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children under 18.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.