The Jordan Theatre Company (JTC) took center stage in the black box theatre with their performance of Jane Austen’s Emma on Dec. 12 through 14.
The show, based on the classic novel by Jane Austen, is set in the early 19th century in the English countryside and revolves around Emma, a member of high-class English society who attempts to play matchmaker for her friend Harriet Smith. However, she quickly realizes that she might not be as well equipped for the task as she had initially thought, and all the while she starts to find interest in a love life of her own.
“Everyone kind of got along well, and sometimes that led to rehearsals going slow for a second because everyone was just so happy to work with each other,” Jonas Flood, the actor for Frank Churchill. “So it was just kind of fun.”
The preparation for the show took place over the course of five weeks, an unusually long time due to two weeks being taken off for Thanksgiving and the Thespian Festival, an event for the state’s student Thespians). Despite the exhausting hours poured into making this show come to life, many of the cast had a lot of fun putting it together. A few even stated that it was the sense of community that they all shared that made the production special.
“My favorite part was the people,” Shaan Syed, the actor for the male lead Mr. Knightley, said. “The people in Emma were just so amazing to work with and so fun, and it was such a small show that everyone had a bigger chance to connect.”
Other cast members also shared similar sentiments.
Aubrey Hurst, who played Jane Fairfax, also commented about the sense of community.
“My favorite part about being in Emma was the environment,” Hurst said. “I think it was the fact that everybody was so genuine and so nice to each other, and the fact that we respected each other.”
A lot of the cast members acknowledged a feeling of pride to have earned their respective roles in the show, as it was a smaller cast than a lot of the other shows that the JTC performs. Kyler Cotton, the actor for Mr.Woodhouse, found the prospect of playing a comical character enticing.
“For me I was just really excited because I knew he was a funnier character,” Cotton said. “I was just pretty stoked.”
Other cast members, such as Shaan also stated having a feeling of shock upon receiving news of their respective roles.
“I was like ‘you know what? I’ll give it a shot.” Syed said. “Maybe I’ll get a small role, maybe I just won’t get cast.’ That night I was talking to my friend and I saw the cast list and I was very surprised.”The directors seemed to have a fun time with the production as well. Heather Villano, one of the directors of the production, confessed herself to be a fan of Jane Austen’s work, which influenced her decision to pick Emma.
“I am a huge Jane Austen fan,” Villano said. “I think she’s probably
my all time favorite author, so when Midkiff and I were planning the season, I told him I wanted to do a literary based show. picking Emma was the obvious choice.”
The humor of the play is what drew Villano to Emma. Her favorite scene is when Emma and Harriet visit Mrs. Bates’ cottage and Harriet stuffs a bunch of cake in her mouth.
“It’s just very, very funny to watch” Mrs. Villano said.
Student director Evan Miller also shared his favorite scene, which for him was when Mr. Elton confesses his love to Emma.
“It was a really fun one to direct because it’s a character that’s a lot like something I would play. . . so getting to direct it felt a lot like me making a scene as an actor, and that was a really neat feeling.” Mr. Elton said.
Looking ahead, the Jordan Theatre Company has begun working on their production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, slated to run this Spring.
