The Country Club: On Stage at SHS this Weekend

The SHS Drama Club will put on their student directed play, The Country Club on Friday January 30 and Saturday January 31. Under the direction of high school seniors Katie Kearns and Kimmy Rothberg, the cast and crew have worked long hours for almost two months to stage the show.

The directors and acting teacher and club advisor Sarah Robbins have worked closely with the small cast of only seven actors, three boys and four girls, along with the production staff. Commenting on working with a small cast, Assistant Director Kimmy Rothberg noted that "having a smaller cast show definitely helped. I feel like everybody has evolved during the show, and thus far have seen so much growth in everybody's talent...." Sydney Prince, who plays Froggy in the show, explained, "The small cast makes the whole experience very intimate. We've all gotten super close and it really makes for an amazing experience."

Rothberg says, "The process has gone pretty smoothly. There have been a few rocks in the road so far, but Katie and I are doing a good job managing the production. Student directing was a new and big responsibility for me, but I am so happy that I have done it." Co-Director Katie Kearns says, "The Country Club has never been done in Scarsdale before; it's a unique show which makes it even more special."

The storyline focuses on Soos; a young, witty, and charmingly neurotic woman who retreats from a failed marriage to her conservative, upper-class hometown of Wyomissing, PA. According to Soos, her hometown is "The type of WASP domain with houses " that made Martha Stewart forget she was Polish", She attends party after party and the initial getaway weekend gives way to a year, and ultimately to the rest of her life. Brittle conversation is bandied about, and Soos is reunited with her onetime boyfriend, the ever-charming Zip. She also returns to her old circles of friends: including a high-strung party planner Froggy; a wry and sarcastic friend named Pooker; and a drunken good ol' boy called Hutch. But cracks soon begin to show in the veneer. Zip falls in and out of an easy relationship with Soos; He starts an affair with Hutch's wife. Lives are casually destroyed, lives go on and through it all, tragedies occur without being mentioned. As Pooker observes between cocktail sips, "We all have our little stories and nobody brings them up. That's what's known as community spirit.''

Although most of the characters in the show are older, the humor of the production will be enjoyed by high school students, parents and grandparents.

Cast:

Soos: Genna Shuster
Zip: Orion Rendon
Hutch: Dillon Orlando
Froggy: Sydney Prince
Pooker: Morgan Cochrane
Chloe: Alison Maybaum
Bri: David D'silva

Tickets are $10 for students and seniors and $20 for adults.
Showtimes are Friday January 30th and Saturday January 31, both at 7:30 pm.
Buy tickets in advance here or purchase them at the door.

Photo credit Jon Thaler - see more and buy yours at JonThaler.com.