Recently I had the pleasure of taking in the Saints’ Players production of “The Philadelphia Story”. Performed at the newly renovated St. George’s Auditorium, the show was a great example of teamwork within the school community.  Saints’ Players, assisted by  the theater production class and the stagecraft class all came together to create the show and demonstrate great cooperation from the boys.

The stunning set was beautiful and eloquently planned. Built by the St. George’s stagecraft class, the set brought a realistic feeling of the Lord’s house right to St. George’s. The set included a photo of former teacher Florence LeBlanc who passed away last year. Director Luke Fredeman dedicated the performance to LeBlanc, as “The Philadelphia story” was the first play Leblanc had not attended.

The plot, revolved around a love battle between Macaulay Connor (Hamish Marissen-Clark), George Kittridge (Alex Negraeff), and Dexter Haven(Joe Goetz) over the desirable Tracy Lord (Cassidy Reichmann). At the outset, Tracy, her mother Margaret and sister Dinah are talking about the upcoming wedding, in which Tracy is scheduled to be wed with George. Tracy questions whether she wants to go through with the wedding, as her life unravels before her. Battling feelings for Mr. Connor as well as George, we see Tracy’s struggle for happiness throughout the play.

It was a very strong performance from all the actors, but some  stood out from the rest. Among the standouts were eleventh grade  students Cassidy Reichman in her role as Tracy. As well, Hamish Marrisen-Clarke excelled in his portrayal of Mr. Connor, Tracy’s side love interest.

In an interview with Hamish after the final performance, he highlighted the group effort that went into producing the play, saying “to put a production like this together in the amount of time we had is a feat I wasn’t sure was possible.” He went on to say that “the play was prepared in record time this year, with the opening nearly a whole week sooner than in years past.” Hamish also spoke of the camaraderie of this year’s unique cast, explaining that “this year’s cast came together in a truly special way. It was a unique senior production, as the majority of the cast consisted of grade elevens.” The closeness of the cast was evident in the performance, as the chemistry helped to immerse the audience.

“The Philadelphia Story” was shown at the beginning of November; a time that can be very stressing for some students. The play is always a welcome break for all the students to relax and be a part of the school community rather than focusing solely on their grades.

Saints’ Players will continue their season with the Junior School performing “Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies” this February, followed by the Middle School’s “Larceny and Old Lace” later in the 2017-18 Saints’ Players season.