No mystery why working with Newman Players a joy

Drama club mounts successful production of Agatha Christie classic

By Paul Sinkewicz Feb 3, 2020

And then it was done!
After months of hard work, the Newman Players celebrated a very successful run of the Agatha Christie play, And Then There Were None!, Saturday.
The story revolves around 10 strangers who have been summoned to a remote island. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. As the weather turns, the group is cut off from the mainland and one by one they are murdered in accordance with the lines of a sinister nursery rhyme.
The production featured STM staff members Amanda Gieni (director), Richard Medernach (acting and technical director), Linda Huard and Marina Ellis (costumes). There were also 10 students in the cast and crew and four alumni members, as well.
"The performances, costumes, props, lighting and sound made this a wonderful production to watch," said Dr. Tammy Marche, Associate Dean of STM. "Thanks to all in the STM community who attended the play, which ran from Thursday to Saturday. It validates the students’ efforts outside the classroom and enhances their experience when faculty and staff support our student clubs."
Marche would like to remind you that if you missed this production, make plans to attend the next Newman Players performance, Vintage Hitchcock: Live Radio Plays June 11–13.

Lots of work, tons of fun for director Gieni

Amanda Gieni takes you behind the scenes of Newman Players

1) What were the highlights of this production for you?

There were many highlights during this production! I cast a really great group of people and had been working with them since October. I loved watching the characters grow and come to life. I also had a wonderful crew working with me for this show, Jill Jeffrey as stage manager, Linda Huard and Marina Ellis doing costumes, and Stephanie Bachman as my set designer. Without them this would have been an impossible show to tackle. And of course, the performances were a big highlight. It was a pleasure to watch the show through the audiences eyes, especially when they were surprised by something and let out a gasp. It’s a directors dream to get audiences to react like that!

2) How was the response from the audiences?

Each audience seemed to really enjoy the show! After twelve weeks of planning, organizing, and rehearsing, having a nearly full auditorium and a captivated audience is the greatest reward. When we were practicing the show we didn’t realize it was as funny as it turned out to be, but the audiences were having a good time and laughing at the moments when we could add a bit of levity to the serious story.

3) Is Agatha Christie fun/hard to do?

Agatha Christie was a great author to have as our source material. It was an old enough story to still have a classic feel but not so old that the language becomes difficult to understand. There is definitely a reason that Agatha Christie’s name is well known, and it was an honour to direct one of her most famous murder mysteries.

4) What kind of fun things go on behind the scenes of a drama production?

For this show in particular, I had to design the lighting so that a couple of the soldier figurines could go missing in the middle of a scene. I chose to have lightning and thunder flash and have the stage go dark for a moment, then our stage manager would quickly remove them from the mantle. We had glow in the dark stickers so she could still see what she was doing. A keen eyed audience member would have noticed the figurines going missing before the characters had.
It’s fun going into the space each night and transforming it from a classroom into a scene from the 1930’s. Gathering all the set pieces and props for this was great fun, and a good challenge.

5) Why should someone think about getting involved next time there is a call for participants?

Newman Players is a great source of community. If you’re a little nervous about meeting new people this is the perfect way to do it because we hand you a script and a character and from day one you know what’s expected of you. Each show brings in veteran Newman Players actors and crew, as well as brand new people. The established actors are great mentors to the newbies, and the new actors bring in a fresh energy and perspective. The same is true for being crew in one of our productions. Every role counts and is just as important to the end product as the actors are.
We strive to offer an inclusive and supportive community where you are given a creative outlet to supplement your responsibilities outside of the theatre, be that family, school, work, or anything else. So if this sounds like something you have even a little bit of interest in, we’re the right group for you!