The Mustang Theatre Company is back on stage this week to perform their semester finale for the general public. The students have been working hard all semester preparing four short one-act plays for Thursday, Nov. 30, and Friday, Dec. 1, both at 7 p.m. — and on the historic main stage at the Nucla High School gymnasium. It’s the last time any theatre will be performed on the legendary stage built in 1956.
Students and faculty move into the new school in January, and while the moment is a bittersweet one, new opportunities in a new space will allow the group to do more concise and suitable productions, given the size of the student population.
Brock Benson, the instructor, wanted to direct a classic that would do justice to the history and legacy the stage represents in the West End, but the reality of participating students and exposure to resources is keeping the group a couple years out yet on that type of production. Still, students and resources are growing.
This semester, audiences will see two theatre classes in four very different shows. Junior high will perform two short scripts by playwright Nikki Harmon: “The Day the Cow Dreamer Ran Away,” which tells the story of a small town that lost its cows and how the townspeople managed to wrangle their herd, and “How the Curious Sun was Saved,” a short script based on the traditional English folktale "The Buried Moon.”
The high school class will present two one-act plays, the first a comedy entitled “Desperate Housewives of Shakespeare” by Jane and Jim Jeffries, a fan fiction spin-off featuring some of the strongest female characters Shakespeare ever wrote in a murder mystery. The second is a sci-fi suspense thriller called “The Experiment” by Brent Holland.
The shows feature every student that signed up for theatre class, and all students took active roles in designing, constructing and painting sets. While the instructor feels incredible pride, trials and tribulations have also allowed for growth and bonding. Students have learned skills that can’t necessarily be taught in another setting.
And before it even began, there was serious planning for the size of the cast, along with subject matter that might be relevant to the community. Building sets and assessing the lighting were other challenging parts. Then, sound, music and instruments were factored in, along with costumes .
In the past, Colorado Mesa University Performing Arts Department has sent costumes on loan, but this semester the group decided to see what they could come up with by resourcing from the local community.
“I really wanted our final show on this stage to be something that we built ourselves, without any help from outside of the community,” Benson said. “I wanted to produce a show that says ‘This is what our talent looks like in the West End, and this what we are capable of pulling off’ … and we pulled off a lot this semester.”
So far, the production has cost more than $2,000. While the school provides the class with a small budget, it doesn't come close to being able to provide the students with the needed paint, let alone the flats, back drop, the rest of the set, costume pieces, publicity, and make-up.
Needless to say, the instructor remains grateful for the generosity of community West End members. He’d made a request when school started about potentially gathering funds from those who wanted to support local theatre. He figured $800 could mostly solve the class problems.
“I am still in awe at what this community gave to my program this year,” he said. “Over $2,500 showed up on my doorstep and at the office of the high school. There isn't enough room in this newspaper to list all of the people that gave so generously, However, they will be listed in the program that you will get when you come see the productions.”
Cost of admission for the show is $5, and the first one-act play starts promptly at 7 p.m.
