Staff Report
The Santa Ynez High School Theatre Group will bid farewell to 14 of its members in the semi-annual and always irreverent Senior Showcase at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, May 10-11, in the school’s Little Theatre.
This year’s showcase, titled “What, Me Worry?,” will continue a tradition of satiric, zany comedy. It features a dozen short plays and sketches by Christopher Durang, David Ives, James McClure and others.
The senior students planned the event from selecting material, to casting, to setting up rehearsal time outside of class. Theatre Group director Jeff McKinnon acts as producer and “final vote” on disputes of any sort.
“We collaborate on 100 percent of the decisions,” McKinnon said. “This is their final celebration on the stage they essentially grew up on, so I want them to own it.”
“It is definitely bittersweet,” he added. “I first met them as children; now I am getting to know them as adults. It’s hard to say good-bye.”
Ten of the seniors — Nathan Berch, Sofia Caciola, Mac Bruce, Francesca Davis, Bella Lind, Charlotte Saunders, Rose Elovitz, Evan McVicar, Mikale Mikelsen and Wyatt Meyer — have been acting together since the fall of their freshman year in 2018 with an initial production of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” They will be joined by “latecomers” Sofie Monterrosa, Erika Spaar, Olivia Horvath and Ramses Flores.
The entire cast, part of a group McKinnon calls “one of the strongest ensembles I’ve ever had as a teacher,” performed in its final major production, “Mother Courage and Her Children,” at the end of April. The Senior Showcase offers the actors a chance at “one last fling” before graduation.
These short plays contain some mature humor and may not be suitable for younger children.
General admission is $5. For more information call 688-6487, ext. 2361.
