PCA One Act hosts Katie Bell Jarriel dinner theater
By: Haleigh McWilliams, PCA Freshman
On Tuesday, October 18, the PCA drama team hosted their annual dinner theater to present their newest play, Back Cover by Emily Hageman. The night began with the audience enjoying a delicious dinner, catered by Mrs. Cathi Willet. Mrs. Stephanie Largent and Mrs. Susan Nobles masterfully directed the play.
Back Cover is a story about a woman, Madison (Julia Hethcox), looking back on one of the most difficult times in her life. The younger version of Madison (Claire Mullis) moves to NYC with her mother (Audrey Kate Smith) after her parent’s divorce. Angry about the move, she finds a hole in her wall with a box of letters from another girl from another time – Jessica Walsh (Elizabeth O’Brien). Madison is instantly intrigued when she reads Jessica’s first words, “I hate New York City,” those same words that Madison had written in her own journal. After Jessica’s mother passed away, her father (Will Wasson) had gotten a new job in New York. She tries to stay positive during the move, and after her senior orientation, she meets a boy, Matt (Trent Jenkins), who helps her come to grips with her mother’s death. Madison continues to read Jessica’s letters, and with her help, she overcomes her fears, makes new friends, Katie (Caroline DeLoach) and Alyssa (Priscilla Dillon), and even repairs her relationship with her father (Yug Patel). During her freshman orientation, Madison is assigned a project on 9/11. As she is researching her project, she connects the dots to the horrifying conclusion that Jessica’s dad worked in one of the Twin Towers where, sadly, Jessica, her dad, and Matt all died that day. Madison decides that she cannot do her project because of Jessica, so her mother emails her teacher, Mrs. Lee (Grace Rogers), that she cannot complete the project. The next day, Mrs. Lee meets with Madison and convinces her to tell Jessica’s story. Mrs. Lee uses the analogy that people “are not like hard cover books not touching each other, but are like paper flowing endlessly in and out of each other.” Her explanation about how our lives influence others helps Madison understand the importance of sharing this young girl’s story to her class, and Madison’s flashback ends. At the end play, Madison introduces the audience to Ellie (Claire Mullis), her own daughter, who is experiencing her parent’s divorce. Madison takes Ellie to New York City to see the 9/11 memorial and begins to tell her Jessica’s story.
The cast put on a tear-jerking performance that moved many audience members. Director Mrs. Stephanie Largent said, “The cast and crew worked tirelessly to put on the best performance possible. Everyone did a great job performing and afterwards, there was not a dry eye in the room. I am extremely proud of all of the work and dedication that was put into creating this story for the audience.”
