BCP/XCP fall play debuts Nov. 4

By Chase Stevens ’12
The Roundup

Spending two and a half hours a day after school for the next two months with Ms. Dorothy Dunnion memorizing pages and pages of dialogue might sound like some sort of  punishment that not even Mr. Bopp could come up with

But for the cast of “The Grapes of Wrath,” this is just rehearsal.

About 25 people will rehearse “The Grapes of Wrath” every day for the next two months to get ready for the play, which opens on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The play will run for two weeks, with additional showings on Thursday, Nov. 5, Saturday, Nov. 7, Wednesday, Nov. 11, Thursday, Nov. 12 and Saturday, Nov. 14 in the Black Box Theatre.
The tickets will cost $7.

“There were 175, maybe 150 (people who auditioned), and I think there were 25 parts,” said Ms. Dunnion, director of the play. “It depends on if we double the rolls. Many of the parts are very small – small in words, not importance.”

Ms. Dunnion also said that RJ Silva ’10 will be playing the lead role of Tom Joad.

“The Grapes of Wrath” is a story about a man named Tom Joad. Set during the Great Depression, Joad comes home on parole for murder to find that the dustbowl had destroyed the crops.

He finds the rest of his family and the Joads go out to California to look for work there.

Ms. Dunnion said that the play was chosen because of its tie to the Summit this year.

Ms. Dunnion also said that while she hasn’t read the full novel of “The Grapes of Wrath,” written by John Steinbeck, she does like “Of Mice and Men,” also written by Steinbeck.

The Summit on Human Dignity this year is about globalization and economics.

Editor’s Note: Roundup staff members Dallas Ducar and Liam Martin have roles in the play but did not take part in writing this article.