You don’t have to love books to love The Bookstore. This year’s Fall Play was an entertaining ride full of action, romance, and heartwarming sentiment.
The Bookstore is set in, no surprise, a bookstore. It contains many rooms and a lot of whimsy, featuring a waterfall room, the heart room, Little Venice, and the infamous disco room. As the manager of the bookstore, Candace, says, the bookstore is a home for many people. The main character of this play is Rachel, the niece of the deceased owner and heir to the business. Candace is thrilled to work with someone who will appreciate the shop, but Rachel is struggling financially. So when a wealthy developer offers her an absurd amount of money to buy the land the bookstore is on, she almost accepts. However, the longer she spends at the bookstore, the more she realizes that it’s value is not in money but in the joy it brings to its employees and customers. There are also many other story lines scattered throughout the play, including multiple romances, unique interactions, and an almost-wedding.
The audience enjoyed all the scenes, but some of the most popular were the disco dancing scene and the hilarious scene between an employee and a customer who won’t stop asking for fake books. The actors, of course, have their own views on the best part of the play. Ella Sheppard, who played the protagonist Rachel, shared that “My favorite scene was probably when I broke up with Anthony [Rachel’s boyfriend] – it was a fun emotional dynamic to explore and I felt like I got to develop Rachel in an interesting way through it.” In contrast, Bella George, who played Candace, commented that “My favorite scene has to be when Rachel and Candace are by the laptop together. It’s just so fun to learn more about both characters!”
Bella shared that she loved playing Candace for several reasons. “Candace is such a special character. The love she has for everything and everyone around her is so inspiring. I also love how touched she is by the magic of the Bookstore that all the craziness is just normal.” Ella’s favorite part of playing Rachel was “the way she slowly fell in love with the idea of whimsy and allowing herself to be happy throughout the course of the play. I think that emotional journey is something a lot of people need, and it was awesome being able to represent that.” The other incredibly talented actors included Cori McGiff, Bailey Gerhard, Daisy Battles, Emily Davison, Jonah Thompson, Grace Workman, Riley Page, Gwen Yowell, Spencer Lysne and Alexis Wiltbank.
The four days of opening through closing night is only a fraction of the time that actors and volunteers put into making the play possible. Throughout only 38 days, actors, set painters, and costume designers toiled to produce The Bookstore. The actors spent hours upon hours working hard together to make this production as a team. Many actors’ favorite moment from rehearsals was when they used frosting to help them with method acting.
The beautifully painted set backdrops used in the play were painted by a team of students both who participated in the play and who didn’t, directed by Mrs. Hopper-Kelly. The backdrops turned like the pages of a book, which was useful in changing scenes quickly and also matched the theme of the play. And no play would happen without a crew working behind the scenes. This production’s crew featured assistant director Cori McGiff, stage manager Madelyn Davison, and lighting operation done by Eloise Papé. The choreography was done by Eliza Finch. And of course, we have all of this to owe to the incredible theater director at BK, Jenny Sternling.
If you enjoyed this play or are disappointed that you missed it, later this school year will be the Spring Play, with opening night on April 10th. As a sneak peek, the Spring Play will be Little Women–a slightly different genre than The Bookstore.
Theater is not just a production, but also a community and a fulfilling part of a person’s life. In the words of Ella Sheppard, “You really feel like a part of a greater whole when you participate in theatre, and it’s simultaneously humbling and incredibly rewarding.”
The Bishop Kelly Newspaper 