Fox High School Theatre Troupe members are expected to return to the stage this weekend, performing the Greek tragedy, “Antigone.”
Show times will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, both at Rickman Auditorium, 747 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. Tickets are $8 for students and senior citizens and $10 for adults.
The performances will be the troupe’s first in the auditorium since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fox High teacher Sam Meyer, who is co-directing the play with Holland Doherty, said everyone will be required to wear a face mask, and audience members will be spaced 6 feet apart, with household members allowed to sit together in the 1,400-seat venue.
Meyer said the actors and technicians also will wear masks during the performance, and the production has been staged to allow actors and technicians to have as much distance between each other as possible.
“We had considered it being an invitation-only (event), but spacing people out in the auditorium should not be a problem,” Meyer said. “Every other row is closed off, and family groups will likely be limited to two in each row on opposite sides so there can be space between them.”
Meyer said school officials had discussed performing the play at the high school softball field, since the diamond has nearly the same dimensions of an ancient Greek theater.
But, then Rickman Auditorium reopened and Myer asked Fox High Principal Ryan Sherp about using it for the play.
“He said, ‘That is excellent. Get in there and use that space if you can,’ Meyer said. “He was very supportive and encouraging to try to do something that resembles normal again.”
The troupe performed one play live on March 27 in Meyer’s classroom, with a small audience watching.
Students also performed productions recorded on Zoom and made available for viewing through the troupe’s webpage on the school’s website, foxhs.fox.k12.mo.us.
Meyer said both performances of “Antigone” will be recorded, and one of those recordings will be available beginning March 26 to watch through the website.
The minimum cost to watch each performance is $20. The Troupe asks people to treat the viewing of the plays like they are at the box office and pay $10 for each person watching the performance.
Those who purchase tickets to watch the play live will have access to the online recording at no additional cost.
“There may be people who want are comfortable going to a theater yet,” Meyer said. “That’s OK because we are going to make it available for video viewing.”
The play
The troupe will perform a version of “Antigone” adapted by David Rush.
The play tells the story of the descendants of Oedipus and their struggles for their kingdom, as well as the consequences of a deeply divided society. It explores themes of freedom vs. security, devotion to country vs. devotion to family, and faith and religion vs. logic and reason.
Meyer said the themes in the play have sparked lots of discussions.
“Students have had many conversations comparing the events of the play to the difficult and polarized times we live in now, and we hope the play will spur many interesting conversations in our audience,” Meyer said.
He said the return to in-person rehearsals and live performances has energized the students.
“The students have been extremely excited,” Meyer said. “They have been so happy to get into rehearsal and see each other. It has been since fall 2019 that we have had in-person rehearsals.
“I know the experience of the actors will be profoundly different. The virtual performances did not allow them to get any kind of audience feedback, and I know everybody misses that. I think they are so excited to be in front of a live audience again.”
Junior Isa Rogers will play Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus.
Other cast members include juniors Lauren Werner and Delaney Roehrs; sophomores Dominic Deutschmann, Aidan Gildehaus and Mason Klotz; and freshman Ella Myers.
The chorus is made up of sophomores Emma Klein, Zoe Simonds and Klotz and freshmen Rachel Rushman, Sarah Monroe, Peyton Kraus, Ariella Baer and Myers.