Bye Bye Birdie
Although most of the Island is concerned with saying hello to the birdies as spring begins to unfold, the Tisbury School seventh and eighth graders are riding against the grain by saying goodbye to the birdies.
Well, actually no real birds are involved at all. Nor pinkletinks, crocuses or snowdrops.
Shakespeare for the Masses is free. It’s also the quickest way to get your Billy the Bard on. Shows clock in at under an hour. Some thee’s and thou’s, here a sonnet, there a sonnet, hopefully a beheading or two and, of course, love olde English style and then you’re back out on the streets of Tisbury pleasantly buzzed if not a bit bewildered by a sudden thirst for vengeance at the injustice some rival king has played upon you.
Everyday life can easily turn into theatre. Political theatre, familial theatre, personal theatre: We encounter it all the time. But good writers and directors can translate that onstage and make the audience connect with a scene they may have never encountered before.
Even better, playwrights, directors and actors can translate it into one-act plays.
Spring must be on its way; the Island Theatre Workshop’s spring play festival, now in its fifth year, is about to begin.
This year’s festival runs Thursday, March 10 through Sunday, March 13 and then again from Thursday, March 17 through Sunday, March 20. Evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m. with additional Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. All shows are to be performed at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
Drama Competition Preview
Every year the Massachusetts Education Theater Guild holds a statewide drama competition. For the past six years running Martha’s Vineyard has been represented at this festival, going all the way to the final round once.
This year the first round matchups take place on March 5 at Joseph Case High School in Swansea. However, a preview performance will be performed this Sunday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
The program for last weekend’s high school production of Willy Wonka included this director’s note: What could be more apropos in February than a musical about becoming the owner of the most magical chocolate factory on earth? Yes, the perfect antidote for cabin fever on the Island, extra helpings of dessert.
And there was a voluptuousness to every aspect of the play. There was a cast of thousands, or so it seemed, as the high school drama department all pitched in ladling out chocolaty goodness in every scene.