Gibbs, Webb ‘Our Town’ an FHS PAC production
The production, which is open to the public, will be presented beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, and Friday, May 9, in FHS’s Vickie B. Wells auditorium, 11237 Kingston Pike.
Tickets cost $5 cash and will be sold at the door the night of the production. There will be no advanced sales.
Twenty-three students, a majority of whom are seniors, make up the cast, of which one is a student director. Among the cast members are seniors Molly Barber, who plays Julia Gibbs; Hayden Toon, who plays George Gibbs; Tiyanna Dudley, who plays Stage Manager No. 1, an actual character in the play; Evan Beeler, who plays Dr. Frank Gibbs, George’s father; Addison Garrett, who plays Rebecca Gibbs; Eva Rogers, who plays Emily Webb; Jase Martin, who plays Charlie Webb, Emily’s father; and sophomore Rafika Amlani, who plays a variety of characters, including Sam Craig.
APAC director Tony Wooley, theater teacher, said the students selected the play.
“(Wooley) called the senior class up and had a discussion about the play we wanted to do,” Barber said.
“We were looking for a play that could fit our cast of around 20 people,” Toon said, adding Wooley suggested “Our Town,” but said he didn’t think the students would be interested because “it might be kind of slow sometimes.”
However, after reading the script at home, the seniors chose the play.
“It’s a beautiful story that follows mainly George Gibbs and Emily Webb, the leads of the play, and how they grow up, navigate through early life and love and ultimately face the tragedy of death in the end,” Beeler said. “I think there’s a lot of sweet moments in this play. If we do it right, it will really touch a lot of people.”
“We think it has a really beautiful and important message, especially for nowadays, that we would want to put on the stage,” Toon said.
“The message is to really enjoy life while you are living it and to not take for granted what you have around you,” he added. “As a senior, I think that’s something that’s really important as we’re all going off to college. We really should look for the beauty, even in the tedious, dryer moments in life.”
“But, it’s not just for the seniors,” Dudley said. “It’s also for the underclassmen, as well, because when we’re in high school, things kind of move slow, but enjoying those little moments while we have them, you really don’t realize until it’s over. Making sure they know that is really important to all of us.”
“I really enjoyed working with them on this,” Wooley said, adding the play has a minimalist stage setting to amplify the students’ acting with a stage manager who narrates and guides the audience through the play.
