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fter an unplanned hiatus due to the pandemic, the Tallulah Falls School Players returned with a resounding hit staging Dearly Beloved on April 23-24.
“This show has been the highlight of the school year,” Hunter said. “It was wonderful to see students back on stage and working together.”
Written by John Hope Wooten, the “fast-paced, laugh-a-minute comedy about three feuding sisters trying to pull off an over-the-top wedding” had audiences rolling in the aisle Friday and Saturday night.
Heyworth, Savannah Harris, Georgianna Shanks, Mackenzie Johnson, Heron Eaton and Adam Kennedy.
The cast and crew consisted of Madison Perdue, Zoja Cerovic, Piper Allen, Ava Wehrstein, Henry Rickman, Amy Henriques, Flannery Hogan, Colton Augustine, Joshua Jackson, Ezekiel Phillips, Erika Wiese, Reagan Brode, Rebecca
The elaborate set, including rotating flats, was masterminded by Middle School Fine Arts/ Program Coordinator Jonathan Roberts, who worked with members of the theater class and crew to design and construct the set. The show was directed by theater teacher Jill Hunter.
Because of limited seating, the theater department purchased the rights to live stream the performance. “I’m thrilled we were able to live stream the show because it allowed students abroad and many more families to see their students onstage,” she said. “Theater students put in months of hard work and planning, and then in a few nights, it is all over. Their work needs to be recognized and celebrated!”
P l ay i n g i n t h e d i r t I
t started with a simple invitation from a group of art students.
Motivated by long-time art teacher Tina Cheek, the students were eager to share their knowledge with a busy school administrator who skipped lunch to learn how to throw pottery. In telling the story to celebrate Cheek’s 15 years of service to the school, Academic Dean Kim Popham sparked the idea to turn the tables so teachers could become the students. Cheek then extended a broader invitation to upper school teachers to join her in the classroom. All spaces in the impromptu pottery class filled in 30 minutes. The lively session held during the final day of postplanning was a stark contrast to the start of the academic year in a pandemic with inherent uncertainty and safety protocols. Educators could finally lean into a more hopeful future, creating and collaborating with each other as they headed into the summer break, Popham said. “It was a fantastic way to end the year with our teachers inspiring each other,” Popham added.
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