Smoke Signals

Written By: Leah Sterling

On September 25, 26, and 27, ECHOstage held its annual Dessert Theatre: an event consisting of two one-act plays with dessert served to the audience during intermission. Every year, ECHOstage holds a Dessert Theatre show as its first show of the season. This year, the show consisted of the plays: The Great Pandemonium and Queens. Let’s explore those two plays in closer detail.

The play The Great Pandemonium details the story of a director trying to pull together his production of Richard III during the chaotic tech week. A lot of inspiration for this idea derives from the global experience of theatre kids and directors alike trying to make a production a reality during the harrowing final rehearsals before a production ensues. The main character in this play is the theatre director, Mr. Nusthorp (of which the inspiration for this character was derived from the actual theatre director at East Coweta High School: Mr. Ondovchik), who is dealing with all of the disorder. This production has many humorous moments that coincide with the crazy events that ensue throughout the high school’s tech week. The Great Pandemonium serves as a nod towards the true nature of putting on a production and the joys that can come out of all of the chaos.

After the dessert-filled intermission, the second play that took place was Queens. Queens takes the audience through the true tragedies that the six queens of Henry VIII endured. Opening the play, the six wives come out singing a haunting lullaby that sets the tone for the production. King Henry VIII sits upon his throne while the six queens, the fool, and the gossips all replay his and his wives’ lives for him in his personal purgatory, convincing him to repent his sins. However, in the end, Henry VIII refuses to repent his past sins and causes the purgatorial story to start yet again. This play had a reflective and somber feeling that accompanied it, reaching history nerds and mothers throughout the audience.

The productions held at the Dessert Theatre this year were all possible due to the support and work offered by the audience, stage crew, tech crew, sponsors, actors, and directors, who all took time out of their days to experience the masterpieces that these shows portray to be.

If you missed out on this event and would like to experience it next time, make sure to keep a lookout for tickets next year during the first nine weeks of school. Dessert Theatre often takes place during the end of September each year, and you will not want to miss out on next year’s productions. Looking into the future, the next show that ECHOstage will be enacting is their production of The Spitfire Grill, a musical, on December 11, 12, and 13. Don’t miss out!