We all have such fond memories of being read to as children, says Mr. Rowell, the director of Gilman theatre productions. Indeed, the art of storytelling is one that has captivated the human race since ancient times, and certainly one loved by many a Gilman student. It is fitting then, that this year’s Winter Drama is Ancestral Voices, authored by A.R. Gurney. It is remarkably unique in that it is literally told as a story, staged as five family members reading their parts on stage. There are no props, no set, and no staging –the performance consists soleley of the five actors’ dialogue. Gurney is also the author of Love Letters, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama, consisting of just two characters and delivered in a similar format. Mr. Rowell felt that it was appropriate for this year’s show to be a drama, to contrast the “high-energy musical comedy”, such as the spring’s Guys and Dolls, that has been given preference recently.

As well as the presentation being one-of-a-kind, Ancestral Voices is critically hailed as being an image of microcosmic World War II America and its families. Gurney tells the story of a family that is threatened to be torn apart by the end of the relationship of grandfather and grandmother. While such a plot may be foreign to the viewer, Mr. Rowell remarks, “Anybody who has ever been part of a family dynamic will see themselves in this play.” Cast member Benjie Jenkins summarizes the plot as a “juxtaposition of the internal conflict of family and the external conflict of a nation at war”.

This masterpiece of drama will not be without challenges: few high schools perform it. The seated, motionless style of performing removes the concept of blocking from a director’s playbook: the movement and placement of actors. Likewise, other traditional production features like lighting cues marking scene changes must be replaced by changes in voice and expression. Conveying aging also becomes a verbal skill in this production, a particular challenge that Jenkins and Billy Siems cite for Ancestral Voices. Siems, who plays the narrator (Eddie), finds that drama of this variety brings out specific elements of acting, namely vocal presentation. These differences allow the actors to concentrate on individual line readings and their deeper significances in the work as a whole.

In fact, Ancestral Voices was intended to be published as a novel – “the most well written production I’ve ever been in,” actor Mark Irwin says. Nevertheless, Mr. Rowell expressed his utmost confidence in the tri-school community’s actors to face the challenges of Ancestral Voices and looks forward to doing something a bit different from run-of-the-mill high school productions. Irwin expresses his utmost confidence in his fellow cast members, adding, “I’m confident that it’ll be received well by the audience.”

Key to the message of the play is the humor with which the characters face adversity. Ancestral Voices conveys the powerful message of using comic relief in times of stress and hardship – not a bad lesson to heed, in general. For instance, Emma Kaplan’s favorite scene of the drama is towards the end – a “hilarious fantasy sequence”, reminiscent of Scrubs, and a change in tone from the surrounding scenes.

Most students will not have seen a drama of this nature, Mr. Rowell said. Its cast is very small, and a terrific opportunity to “play some really sensitive scenes with really touching material,” along with its light-hearted aspects.

Come out to see it…