Gregor Samsa’s transformation horrifies his boss in MDI Drama’s adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” (From left) Eva Crikelair, Bryce MacGregor, Faye Durand (kneeling), Ly Dillon (crouching) and Rex DeMuro.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS DOUGHERTY
BAR HARBOR — Mount Desert Island High School Drama will perform a one-act adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” during The Downeast Regional of the Maine Drama Festival, which will be held in the school’s auditorium on March 26.
MDI High School will host the festival in the Higgins-Demas Theater for five Downeast schools including MDI, Bucksport, Deer Isle-Stonington, George Stevens Academy and Calais. All of these schools will also compete in the Maine’s state Drama Festival that will be held in person for the first time in two years. Teams are required to wear masks at all times while on stage.
“My understanding is that for 2022 there will be a regional winner and runner-up, but normally the only acts that advance to states are the ones that win their regions,” said MDI High School Drama Director Casey Rush.
“The Metamorphosis” is a story about a salesman named Gregor Samsa who one day wakes up to find himself transformed into a large cockroach, and the struggles that ensue. There have been various interpretations, Rush said, but the story is a commentary on capitalism because it is about human relationships and how people take advantage of others.
“The lead [character] gets taken advantage of by his family because they don’t work, so he basically turns into the thing that people treated him like,” Rush said.
Ly Dillon, who portrays Gregor Samsa, will not wear a cockroach costume and will instead walk on all fours.
“We started the production in December, and we didn’t know what to expect,” said Rush, who was given the go-ahead on March 2 to host this month’s regional festival. “We had no clue whether we were going to be literally performing a show just for our local audience, whether there would be another film thing like we did last year, or an actual festival because at that point, we had omicron happening.”
(From left) Eva Crikelair, Ly Dillon and Bryce MacGregor rehearse MDI Drama’s one-act performance of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” adapted by Steve Moulds.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS DOUGHERTY
This year, the regional festival, which is normally a two-day event with nine different schools, will be pared down to one day of performances with a morning and evening session.
“I have students with families who are not going out to restaurants, are very much masking, and who still have misgivings about being in a space with a whole bunch of people,” Rush said.
The order and performance times of the five schools is yet to be determined but more information will be posted on MDI Drama’s webpage at www.mdidrama.org.
Admission for the local premiere Saturday, March 12, and for the “Black Rose Performance” on Wednesday, March 23, are by donation.
Tickets for the regional performance Saturday, March 26, will be $5 for students and $10 for adults.
The plan is to limit tickets to three-fourths capacity (300 total). As there are about 100 people connected to the festival itself, the school will have about 200 tickets to sell. All attendees, including students, must be masked the entire time they are in the facility, but they do not have to distance. If the Maine Principals Association changes the masking guidelines, it will be updated on MDI Drama’s website.
Cast and Crew
Ensemble:
Gregor – Ly Dillon
Gregor’s voice – Ryder Haines
Mind – Eva Crickelair
Body – Bryce MacGregor
Spirit – Faye Durand
Mother – Logan Wilbur
Grete – Mia Eason
Father – Spencer Clark
Office Manager, Boarder 3 – Rex DeMuro
Maid – CassieLyn Willis
Cleaning Woman – Isabelle Peterson
Woman in Boa – Cecelia Blackett
Company Doctor – Harlan Mahoney
Boss – Hayden Braun
Teenage Apprentice – Adam Losquadro
First Salesman – Megan Huff
Second Salesman – Evangeline Meister
Boarder 1 – Hayden Braun
Boarder 2 – Owen Moses
Stage Crew:
Kuroko Megan Huff
Adam Losquadro
Harlan Mahoney
Evangeline Meister
Tech Crew:
Chloe Bolt
Forrester Coleman
Zoe Eason
Aidan Fisichella
Ryder Haines
Richard Miller
Avery Preston-Schreck
Isa Raven
Logan Reece
Maria Saltysiak
Tessa Sanborn
Piper Soares
Brooke Stevens
Cayla Swanberg
Grace Weed
Staff:
Director – Casey Rush
Tech Director, Lighting & Sound – Grey Burkart
Tech Director, Scenic Design – Carlene Hirsch
Costume Designer – Marilee Marchese
Ninah Rein
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