Patriot Players debut new, clever production ‘Zap’
November 10, 2009
By Chantelle Lusebrink
Audiences are in for a spectacle at Liberty High School’s premiere of “Zap” Nov. 13.
“It’s really fun and different, a new play that pokes good-natured fun at cherished theatrical forms,” Katherine Klekas, theater director for Liberty, wrote in an e-mail. “We’re always looking for something that is good but not overdone, and ‘Zap’ is quite clever and new.
“It also features a big, talented cast.”
With 27 actors playing 30 roles, your head is sure to spin. But add seven dramatic theater genres, hundreds of costumes, props and lighting cues, and you’ll be zapped into awe, Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Scott Koh, guest director for the production, said in a press release.
“I’ve collaborated with Katherine Klekas several times over the years and when this opportunity arose, it seemed like the perfect fit,” Koh wrote in an e-mail.
Liberty High School Patriot Players (from left) Casey O’Keefe, Rachel Galasso, Jonathan Julius, Jessica Queitzsch and Lindsey Vanosdoll, enact the British murder mystery scene from ‘Zap.’ By Greg Farrar
“‘Zap’ is a very audience-friendly play, in that it has something for everyone,” he added. “Without giving away too much of the plot, it is a fast-paced farcical comedy, where things go crazily awry. The challenge of the production has been to get really ‘good’ at being ‘bad.’”
Paul Fleischman, a Newberry Medal winner, wrote the production. Fleischman is an author of multiple poetry books for young readers and novels, like “A Fate Totally Worse Than Death” and “Sidewalk Circus.” “Zap” is his first play.
“Zap” is a combination of seven historical play genres presented on stage simultaneously.
The idea, according to Klekas, is that the audience watching the plays is given the opportunity to flip from one production to check in on another, just as one would use remote controls to change television channels.
For example, while characters are bantering about Shakespearean insults on stage during “Richard III,” other characters will be sleuthing to solve an English murder mystery based on Agatha Christie’s famous novels, while still others will arrive onstage to teleport the audience to scenes from a New York comedy with a style similar to that of Neil Simon.
“I like the hilarity of it,” said student Arielle Gordon, who plays Marsha, a pot-stirring, play-sabotaging gossip. “There are a lot of one-liners that are hilarious, and lots of actors who know how to be comedic with their bodies.”“I’ve really been amazed by the dedication and focus of the students. When I walk into a rehearsal in the afternoon, I’m immediately struck by the warm atmosphere that these students have created,” Koh wrote. “They are supportive of each other, take direction well and have all the drama ‘chops’ necessary to create high quality productions. This is a credit to Katherine and the quality drama program she has created at Liberty.”
The play “has something to say about entertainment and life. It’s set in the suburbs and is about life in the suburbs,” Gordon said. “It has a good underlying message, but it’s also a really funny show.”
After the show, the school’s Improv Club will perform.
Working in teams, the students will perform classics from Improv Games, like “Late for Work” and “Moving Bodies and Genres,” Improv teacher and advisor Jake Nonis said in a press release.
“Every time these students get onstage, the audience loves their clean and clever comedy,” Nonis said. “We want everyone to come join in the fun.”
If you go
‘Zap’
7:30 p.m. Nov. 13-21
2:30 p.m. Nov. 21
Liberty High School, 16655 S.E. 136th St.
$9 for adults; $5 for seniors, students with Liberty student identification and children under 12
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