THE ART S
Whodunnits and Fairytales FWCD theatre-goers enjoyed a “whodunnit” and a fairytale this year, as Upper School students in the Department of Fine Arts showcased CLUE in November 2021 and Shrek the Musical in February 2022. Siouxsie Easter made her FWCD directorial debut as Upper School Theatre Director. Easter came to the School from New York, where she was a Professor of Theatre at Wells College for 18 years. Throughout her career, she has taught directing, acting, Shakespeare, improvisation, dramatic literature, theatre history, and directed and performed in more than 75 productions. Some of her favorites include Twelfth Night, Eurydice, The Maids, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Rumors. Easter has earned the Excellence in Directing from the Theatre Association of New York State (10 times) and Meritorious Achievement in Directing (four times). She has an impressive record of service to the theatre community and field, including board membership, article reviewer, consultant, and youth mentor judge. Easter holds a BA in Speech and Theatre at the University of Montevallo (Alabama), an MEd at the University of North CarolinaGreensboro, and an MFA at Goddard College (Vermont). Easter’s method with students: collaboration and a sense of adventure. “It is so much fun coming up with ideas with the cast. We always laugh a lot in rehearsals,” Easter said. “It takes 28
THE FALCONER
an ensemble of dedicated people to put on a show.” She loves seeing plays come to life after reading the scripts. She chose CLUE as her first FWCD play because she loves the board game and figured the cast could play the game together before rehearsals started to get to know one another and get into character in a low-key, comfortable setting. “It was great for me as a new-to-FWCD person to see all the energy in the room,” she noted. While CLUE provided fantastic roles for the students, the show provided a challenge. “Fitting everything on stage with over-the-top characters interacting in multiple rooms was one of the biggest challenges,” she noted. “I’m sure you all remember the game …” According to the rules of the Hasbro game, players must “deduce the details of the murder [the cards in the envelope]. There are six characters, six murder weapons, and nine rooms, leaving the players with 324 possibilities.” Led by Wadsworth the Butler (Nic Medaris ’23), the whodunnit featured Miss Scarlett (Sydney Cyprian ’22), Professor Plum (Vie Walker ’22), Mrs. White (Eliana Garcia ’23), Mr. Green (Aramis Moreno ’22), Mrs. Peacock (Olivia Kersh ’24), and Colonel Mustard (Aedan McCormack ’25) and their race to find the killer.