A senior at Silverton High School, Karissa Mathae is directing a play for her senior project that she has dreamed of doing since she was in the seventh grade.
Community members are invited to attend Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21, 22 and 23 at Silverton High School, 1456 Pine St.
Mathae said the play is about a young girl who awaits the return of her fiancé from the Serbo-Bulgarian war in 1885. As she waits, an enemy officer crawls in her window seeking refuge from the fight.
“As the play progresses, Raina must make a choice between her heroic fiancé and this charming new enemy officer, who is the first person to take her seriously and treat her intelligently,” she said. “Arms and the Man is a wonderful comedy written by George Bernard Shaw, showing the pointlessness of bravado in love and war.”
She chose to direct the play because she loves the wit, the extraordinary characters, the melodramatic young woman seeing the reality of life for the first time, an accidentally heroic young soldier at odds with the world, and a surprisingly romantic realist.
“Each and every character in the play is important and has something of value to say. It challenges people to look at their expectations and beliefs of something against its reality,” Mathae said.
Bridger Lanning, a junior, is the assistant director and the lead actors are Grace Hawkins who plays Raina Petkoff and Alec Zitzelberger who plays Captain Bluntschli.
“Mr. O and I did not choose this play or cast lightly, and we’ve been gratified with a fantastic cast that will only result in a fabulous production,” Mathae said. “For the past nearly two months, the cast has been working together for long hours to get the show right. Now, I want to make sure they have a full house to come see the show- they deserve it.”
Proceeds from the play will be donated to Silverton Area Community Aid, she added.
“We really wanted to use this opportunity benefit all of our community, and with this being a very busy season of SACA it was natural for us to choose a program that assists families in need,” Mathae said. “This way we can help continue our theater department with funds from the remaining nights, but also benefit SACA with both money and publicity.
Mathae encourages community members to see the play because the cast has been working for two months to get the show right. She also encourages people to mark their calendars to see the play Steel Magnolias on Dec. 12, 13 and 14.
