Arrowhead Drama puts on Still Life with Iris

On February 7th through February 9th Arrowhead Drama put on the show Still Life with Iris written by Steven Dietz.

Still Life with Iris is an adventure of a young girl searching for a home and family. Iris (Caroline Frost, a freshman at AHS) lives with her mother (Olivia Liebe, a senior at AHS) in the land of Nocturno—a magical place where the workers at night make the small wonders we see in the world. In Nocturno, memories are not kept in people’s minds; instead, they are kept in their coats and when damaged need to be repaired or they can lose their memories. The rulers of Nocturno, the Great Goods, must have the best of everything; therefore, they take Iris away from her home and bring her to Great Island to be their daughter. To ease the pain of this separation, they remove her coat, leaving her with no memory of her past. All that remains is a single button from her coat. Using the button, Iris joins with friends she meets on her journey to free herself from the Great Goods. Despite some rough patches in the end, she returns to Nocturno, having regained what she had lost: her family, her home, and her memories.

Maralynn Markano, an English teacher, acting teacher, and director of the play, says, “My goal was to put on an entertaining and meaningful production. I want the actors and crew involved to have a positive experience in which we work hard to bring a playwright’s vision to life on stage through creating vivid characters, set, props, lighting, and sound. I feel we accomplished that very well.”

Emily Bierman, a junior at AHS and actor in Still Life with Iris, says, “My goal in general was to be able to collaborate with a bunch of really amazing people and make friends out of the whole experience. My goal for myself was to really get to know my character ‘Captain Also’ and find ways to bring her to life. It sounds cliche, but I see myself a lot in her now after the show is over. Another goal I had was to not fall out of the shopping cart.”

Markano says, “We are all very pleased with how the show turned out, from set to props to costumes…We had good crowds who shared many compliments. It was fun to do a children’s show after three  dark dramas in the last three years.”

Bierman says, “The process in creating the show was like one big roller coaster ride. The first couple of rehearsals were just playing acting games to meet everyone and the cast contributing ideas on how to make the audience interested in the ballets that would show what Nocturno was all about by pan-to-miming all of the props that we would have for the show and come up with jobs the people of Nocturno would have. And then a few weeks later, we dove into each and every character to make them tell a story.”

Bierman says, “The show wouldn’t be the same without our amazing directors Mrs. Markano, Mrs. Elmergreen, our student director Amelia Carrey and all the contributions that were made with the cast and crew.”

Markano says, “Upcoming Spring Show is Fools—a laugh-out-loud comedy by Neil Simon. Auditions are March 18 and 19 with call backs on March 20. Audition materials will be posted on the Drama Department Website around March 1.”