“What do you need to know about me? As you can probably tell from my attire, I am a business man. Yeah. That means I work in business.”

Last Friday, May 12th, Gateway Tech drama club presented a short play Scenes From An Elevator written by English Teacher, Ms. Davenport and Directed by Special Education Teacher, Mr. Frost – that also happen to run the drama club.

The story follows a business man, Will, played by Will Souchon and his encounters with different, unique characters as he is carried to the 104th floor by an elevator to meet a mysterious Tom, the founder, the CEO, or, perhaps, something else of Tom’s Toothpaste, Will’s favorite brand of cinnamon (yes, cinnamon!) toothpaste with which he brushes his teeth every day. As Will rises to the floor 104 where his “friend” Tom resides, he is met with a variety of different people: from a tired English teacher brought to us by Ms. Patel – another English Language teacher of our school – to a surfer that looks just a bit beyond the world as it is and is played by Owen Mathews. The play itself stretches no longer than thirty-five minutes and, not unlike Will, the audience is thrown into a wild ride, filled with thoughts about life, tiredness, the bustling of NYC, and the uniqueness of cinnamon toothpaste.

The idea for the play was born from the drama club’s improv performances that helped Ms. Davenport discover several talents among the students. This is the first play our school has ever prepared, and not only that – it is an original play. Aside from Will, the actor of the main character by the same name, being undoubtedly talented – as an audience member, I sure can assure you of that – he is a freshman. From Ms. Davenport’s words, when she was in high school, her school did not allow freshmen to play the lead, which is why Will performing the main role is another small achievement of the play, especially important to Ms. Davenport.

The play wasn’t exclusive for those originally in the drama club. As some of you may remember, auditions were held for anyone willing to participate. The play was born out of collaboration and excitement between staff members and students. Ms. Davenport, Mr. Frost and the students all had an amazing time putting it together. The play was truly a community event with various staff members joining in on the fun. Our actual 7th floor custodian, Danny, acted on stage with the actor custodians. And staff members in the audience were given lines to shout out along with Will. 

As an audience member I must say this: I, too, had an amazing time. Stage Manager Alonyah did a great job executing the flow of the production. I loved all the skits and scenes in the play, and as a music lover I applaud the music choices, especially the beginning and the ending song. Personally, my favorite characters were the surfer and the English teacher, although I did need to google what “lugubrious” means (excessively mournful, dismal, and gloomy). Overall, the play has good acting, amazing plot and dialogue, and leaves one with some things to think about, which is the recipe of a good experience.

The play is the first of its kind for Gateway Tech, and hopefully not its last!