By Lester Williams Jr, Contributing Writer
The 2021 student-run production of “Pollyanna” is a play based on a 1914 children novel by Eleanor H. Porter. The play reminds us to be happy and grateful for what we have. Thanks to the effort of the cast and crew, the performance was able to go on stage for the first time on Saturday December 4, 2021, at 2 p.m.
The production was presented by Alpha Psi Omega, a theatre honor society at Saint Leo University. It was directed by Anna Perri, a junior and theatre major, and was written, produced, and acted by Heidi Konow, an English major specializing in theatre.
“Pollyanna is a story about learning to see blessings and reasons to be glad,” Perri said. “I think this is a message many of us can appreciate now in a way we never would have imaged just a couple years ago.”
Although the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic still lingered over the production, the show’s staff persevered through the challenges presented.
“We did have to be cautious about how many people we let in and had to make sure they were all wearing masks;” said Konow. “We also wore them backstage, which was a pain in the neck to remember when we were about to go on after intermission.”
As the show started, the stage was lit up with yellow lights that invited the audience to sit back and relax while the show began. With every scene that ended, the stage was immersed in a purple layer of light which informed the crowd to prepare themselves for the next exciting scene of the story.
“I tend to ignore the fact that we are opening a show no matter what show I’m in until it’s time to get into costume and it becomes impossible to forget that there is a show to do,” said Konow.
Some stand-out performances included Konow playing the energetic protagonist, Pollyanna, and Noah Henry, a sophomore and clinical/counseling psychology major, that played the overdramatic Rev. Whittier.
Other performances included Jan-Niklaas Vogel, a junior and cyber security major, who portrayed Mr. John Pendleton as both funny and emotional. Caidance Walker, a junior and elementary education major, supported the cast by playing the straight man to characters such as Pollyanna.
Due to the Black Box Theatre’s small size, the cast of Pollyanna had to adapt to working with a single set that they had to use from start to finish with a small number of props, no theatre curtains, and barely any alternations from scene to scene.
“The pros of performing in the Black Box was that we had access to the equipment there,” Perri said. “And we’re able to incorporate set, costume, lighting and sound elements that would not have been possible in an outdoor performance.”
After all the planning and practice, the cast of Pollyanna reflects on their experience putting on a production. Hopefully, Pollyanna is the first of many student-run productions that will perform at Saint Leo.
