At first glance, looking at One Light Theatre’s calendar, there must be some mistake. Charlotte’s Web opens Friday at 7 p.m. with Proof just 30 minutes later? But there is no mistake, just a busy schedule and a second performing space at Tilton School.
Monday began the second of One Light Theatre’s summer theater camp. Last week 21 students put on The Lion King. This week, a group of 16 students is performing another animal story, Charlotte’s Web. While The Lion King was staged indoors, Charlotte’s Web will be held outdoors on a grassy hillside.
That allows for the professional mainstage production, Proof, to open about the same time indoors on stage.
It makes for a busy schedule for One Light’s executive directors Jason Roy and Daniel Sheehy, who work as artistic director and program manager, respectively.
And a busy schedule for the different casts and two-person tech team, too.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for just one week, the group of 6- to 15-year-olds under the direction of Courtney Foschi must audition, rehearse and complete all the necessary practicing to put on a full-length, 90-minute play.
Sheehy said the show is a straight play, not a musical like many of the children are used to. This has allowed them to work on honing their skills without stressing about learning the music.
The play stays very true to E.B. White’s book, Roy said. In it, Wilbur is first saved from death as the runt of the litter by Fern. Then, as he grows, moves to a farm and makes some animal friends, he’s again saved from becoming dinner by Charlotte, a compassionate spider.
It has the same themes as the book, Roy explained, summed up to be “treating others the way you’d like to be treated.”
“What’s interesting about this group is they like to collaborate in small groups,” Roy said. That has allowed Foschi, who recently completed a tour as director of the Missoula Children Theater company, to work with students as they need help.
“The special thing about introducing children to theatre is that, like theatre, children are made of magic. No one has told them yet to color inside the lines, to stop playing make-believe, to give up their imaginations, or that they’re not special,” Foschi said in a statement. “And as a director, I get to say, ‘You are special! The magic you create is amazing! Don’t ever lose it!’ ”
Foschi is an artist in residence with One Light this summer. In addition to directing Charlotte’s Web, she is an actress in A Chorus Line, Steel Magnolias and Cabaret. Proof is the only performance One Light is staging she won’t be in, since she’ll be outside working with the children.
Charlotte’s Web will have shows Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10. Performances will be on the lawn at Tilton School. Roy suggests bringing your own lawn chair or blanket.
With The Lion King over, the tech crew hurriedly took down the set, which included Pride Rock, and then built a house on the stage, complete with garden, for Proof. On Wednesday, they were putting finishing touches on the siding and gable of the house before beginning construction on a set for Charlotte’s Web, which will include a frame of a barn, Roy said.
The two-person tech team only has about 48 to 72 hours to build each set once the summer gets rolling, Roy explained.
“The true heroes of the summer are the tech team who literally work nonstop,” Roy said. The same tech members work all season, unlike the actors who change from show to show.
For Proof, directed by Kirsten Riegler, an associate professor of theater at Keene State College, there will be a cast of four professional actors – three from New Hampshire and one from Massachusetts.
The play, written by David Auburn, centers on Catherine whose father is a recently deceased mathematical genius and professor. When Hal, her father’s graduate student, discovers the professor wrote a paradigm-shifting proof on prime numbers, Catherine must help prove the proof’s authenticity. All the while she is navigating a relationship with Hal, coming to terms with following in her father’s footsteps, and dealing with his and her own mental illness.
Riegler “has really highlighted how to survive with mental illness and overcome grief,” Roy said.
Proof will run Friday through July 28 with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $18. The performance will be held in Hamilton Hall at Tilton School.
Still to come this summer from One Light is a stand-up comedy night on July 25, Cabaret from Aug. 3 to 11, and a musical review “The Best and Worst of Broadway” on Aug. 6.
One Light is always looking for individuals who want to be involved from ushering to directing to tech crew, Roy and Sheehy said.
For more information on shows or to purchase tickets, visit onelighttheatre.org.