This week, a student-directed play closed out a busy spring season for the performing arts at Milton. This spring more than seven productions came to life on various stages at Milton Academy: The annual spring play Lettice & Lovage in King Theatre; Never the Sinner, in room 1212; a Class III play performed in Straus; a Middle School play, The Boy Who Fell Into a Book, performed in the studio theatre; and an independent production of The Lottery, produced and directed by Julia Cain Class II in Milton’s outdoor amphitheater.
This spring, Julia and a cast of 13 Upper School students and brought The Lottery (adapted by Brainer Duffield from a story by Shirley Jackson) to a little-known Milton stage, the outdoor amphitheater beside The Kellner Performing Arts Center. Faced with a number of challenges, — no set, few props, no curtain, and little practice time due to rain and wind — the cast and crew persevered; The Lottery was performed for a large audience of students and faculty, many of whom had read the story as part of the Class VI English curriculum.
Set in a small mid-century New England town, The Lottery is about an annual festival that culminates in a strange and horrifying lottery drawing that the townspeople think ensures their continued well-being.
Cast (in no particular order):
Tessie Hutchinson – Julianne Gale (II)
Old Lady Warner – Fletcher Wolfe (II)
Ms. Wheeler – Essie Martsinkovsky (II)
Joe Summers – David Simons (I)
Tommy Wilkins – Dan Rizzotto (I)
Hazel Dunbar – Ruth Schlitz (I)
Belva Summers – Alex Miller (II)
Myrtle – Taylor LeMelle (IV)
Bill Hutchinson – Andrew Rozas (I)
Davy Hutchinson – Julie Ellison (IV)
Martin – Morgan Love (IV)
Ms. Bessom – Catherine Englis (III)
Narrator – Poornima Kirby (III)
Jake Dunbar – Michael Cohen (VI)
