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This year, all throughout September, October, and November, Walpole High School Drama Club worked hard to prepare their fall play, Edgar Lee Master’s “Spoon River Anthology”. On the evenings of December 3rd and 4th, 10 weeks hard work were rewarded when the Walpole High auditorium filled with people who wished to see the students succeed. Sporting their best costumes and makeup, the students came together show parents, friends, and fans of the arts what they had worked for.

The setting for “Spoon River” is the 19th century Midwestern town of Spoon River, and the characters a group of deceased citizens of the town, who reflect throughout on their venial sins and unfulfilled dreams. The play d0es not follow a traditional script but instead consists entirely of poetic monologues written by Master. The play is often performed in acting schools, due to the depth of the individual characters and the intensity of the show’s themes. Due to the heavy-handed thematicism of the show, some cast members were nervous about the quality of the show.

“I was nervous about the [choice of “Spoon River Anthology” by Mr. D’Attilio, the WHS Drama Club director],” said junior John Griffin, “but we pulled it off really well.”

This could very well have been due to the fact that there was no star of the show, and no big parts: every character performed one monologue only; and, though certain students played multiple characters, every student received basically equal stage time. This gave every student an equal opportunity to shine, providing beneficial experience for the large amount of underclassmen and excitement for their parents.

“I’m glad this was my first show,” said freshman Bridget Lindh. “If it had been a more traditional play, I probably would’ve had an ensemble part.” Lindh, however, like all of the other members of the cast, had a character with a name, a face, and a back story.

In addition, with the small amount of material for each student, everyone was able to work his or her lines to perfection and truly explore the themes of the show. The play allowed actors to truly perform to the best of their abilities, and for this reason, “Spoon River” was probably the best choice for a high school show.

“With everything else we have going on, like homework, it can be hard to learn lines for shows,” said senior Meredith Barry, “but with ‘Spoon River’,  we could all learn our parts pretty well.”

Because of the work put in by every cast member, the mature themes were conveyed brilliantly, and each student gave an impressive performance. Months of work came together, and as a result, the audiences (parents or otherwise) must have been very much impressed by everybody on stage. The only ones more impressed, perhaps, were the actors themselves.

“We really did a good job with this one,” said Griffin.

And, with one successful show down, the members of the Drama Club should be looking forward excitedly to the winter musical, “The Wiz”, a modernization of the beloved MGM film– and L. Frank Baum novel– “The Wizard of Oz”. Rehearsals have begun, and the show will be performed in March by a very large cast, one of the largest in the history of the school. If actors dedicate to “The Wiz” the same amount of time and energy they did to “Spoon River”, it will be one of the best shows in the history of the school as well.