Theater Lab closed its third year with a production of Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane, which ran from Thursday, May 8 through Saturday, May 10.
High school dance and acting teacher Maria Watson’s goal when she introduced Theater Lab in the fall of 2022 was to perform plays primarily written by women that have diverse casting and compelling, real-world themes. This spring, Watson chose Hurricane Diane and cast seniors Evelyn Chen and Natalia Freedman, junior Natasha Rubinson, sophomore Tyson and freshman Liv Glendinning.
The play follows the Greek god Dionysus, played by Chen, and his journey undercover in suburban New Jersey as a landscaper named Diane. As Dionysus tries to persuade four women to embrace the more natural side of life, she ultimately leads them down a path of self-discovery.
The play focuses on themes of climate change, the environment and real human connection. Chen said she believed climate change is extremely important. “It’s on our generation to fix and save the world. The playwright had in mind just shedding light on an issue that we all kind of turn our eyes away from.”
This spring, 12 students auditioned for the five-person cast. Glendinning said she enjoyed working with a small cast. “[A small cast] is definitely a lot easier to manage,” Glendinning said. “You can get really close with your castmates, which I think just makes for a better show.”
Watson’s goal when she chose Hurricane Diane for spring Theater Lab was to choose a play with a theme audiences can easily connect to and take a message away from. “The play is about climate change and how we as human beings cannot live the way we are,” Watson said. “We are killing the earth, and we need to think about what we’re doing.”
Watson said she aimed to highlight diversity and inclusion in Theater Lab productions. All but one of the productions she has directed for Theater Lab have been written by women, a pattern she hopes to continue. Hurricane Diane is also entirely made up of female characters, further highlighting Watson’s goal to showcase female voices in theater.
“Women in the performing arts are excluded often in leadership roles, artistically as well as administration,” Watson said. “You know, directors, playwrights, producers, artistic directors, choreographers. It’s been a man’s world for such a long time that I’m kind of sick of it.”
In addition to selecting and directing all of Theater Lab’s productions, Watson also casts and choreographs the shows. “She’s really good at telling you the mindset you need to be in and she’s really focused with you knowing your character inside-out,” Chen said.
“[George] modeled these characters after people that we all know,” Watson said. “We all know somebody that’s like one of these characters in the play, so you can relate—it’s very relatable.”
Theater Lab offers an opportunity for students who have after-school commitments and usually cannot participate in theater to be part of a show. Watson holds rehearsals for Theater Lab during morning flex, which is different from other GDS theater productions, such as the spring musical and fall play, that rehearse after school.
“I just love the people that are in it with me,” Chen said. “I think they’re all really funny and really sweet, and it’s also nice that we have everybody from every single grade representing. It’s been a really fun experience.”