Tabor Academy students prepare to break a leg for fall production
Roy Zha (left) and Lucy Brophy rehearse their scene. Photos by Tanvi Kulkarni
The crew does warmups before rehearsals the week before the show.
Gray Liu (left) and Dora Shen rehearse their scene.
Luke Machnik (right) enters the scene.
Director Jesse Hawley instructs the actors from the audience.
The crew of “Business Ideas.” Photo source: Jesse Hawley
Roy Zha (left) and Lucy Brophy rehearse their scene. Photos by Tanvi Kulkarni
The crew does warmups before rehearsals the week before the show.
Gray Liu (left) and Dora Shen rehearse their scene.
Luke Machnik (right) enters the scene.
Director Jesse Hawley instructs the actors from the audience.
The crew of “Business Ideas.” Photo source: Jesse Hawley
MARION — After tackling their math and English courses, seven Tabor Academy students are gearing up for an entirely different challenge. In just a few days, the red curtains will rise on their fall production, “Business Ideas.”
The play centers around a mother daughter pair, who sit at a café table considering how to afford college tuition. Across the room, an exhausted barista feels the weight of her underpaying and underappreciated job.
“She is this really smart woman, but she’s been working in a café for a while. And she wants more out of life,” said junior Lucy Brophy, who is playing the barista, Patty. “She really wants to see what’s achievable for her, and she doesn’t want anyone to get in her way.”
Brophy has been doing theater for nine years, and “Business Ideas” will be her third show. She was cast in the role on Sept. 6 and has been rehearsing for the big day since. She said she’s really excited for people to see what the students have been working on.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and late rehearsals, and we have a really hardworking cast crew here,” she said.
She said Patty is determined and hardworking, and she sees some of herself in her character. She said character arcs are an important part of the show.
“Her work ethic to improve her life is really exceptional, and I think I have that same work ethic to keep asking the questions and pursuing what [I] want in life,” she said.
Senior Gray Liu, who plays the struggling mother, said the play is different from previous ones, which have been more fantastical in nature. She said “Business Ideas” is a different kind of acting challenge with its modern-day setting, and it leaves the audience pondering larger concepts or issues.
“I think it’s very relevant to our world today — people dealing with employment, especially high school kids who are supposed to know what they’re trying to do in their career,” she said.
Despite the heavier concepts, she said the play is a comedy and has frequent moments of comedic relief.
“[My character] is very fun. I see her as a mom who wants to be the cool mom but is kind of failing at it,” she said. “It ends up being a little bit awkward, but I think she has her own charm.”
The play also has an immersive element, Brophy said.
“The actors and audience go on this journey together to this show. They feel like they’re in the show,” she said. “I want people to see the craziness of the customers and how bizarre these people are and how bizarre people can be in real life.”
The crew is made of seven actors, three faculty directors and the student manager, senior Andrea Yin. Yin said she plans to be a psychology major in college, but is considering theater or stage management as a minor or area of interest.
The play will be at the Will Parker Black Box Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5-7. Tickets are free of charge with reservations at taboracademy.org/box-office.
