Photo by Jerri Shafer
This year’s annual All-Ohio Show, hosted by the Ohio Educational Theatre Association, is Once on This Island. It is being produced by Westerville South High School Theatre Director Matthew Wolfe and Tech Directed by Derrick McPeak, South’s Technical Director. Thirty-eight students from 19 different high schools around Ohio are featured in this production, including 10 from Westerville City Schools. They are: ?Evan Kret, Desmond Fernandez, Cherish Myers, Emily Hayman Hunter McCune, Oliver Runyon, Kyle Smith, Caleb Jingo, and Kerry Stevens (all from South); and Emily Stowers (Westerville North).
According to Broadway World Columbus, Once on this Island is an adaptation of novelist Rosa Guy’s My Love, My Love, which is, in turn, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. This musical sets the tale in Haiti, a country deeply divided between the wealthy and the poor. Haiti has a rich history, with a pattern of segregation between the descendants of French settlers and the common people. In 1791, there was a massive slave revolt that cast out French influence and won independence as a nation. Since then, the Haitian people have struggled with poverty, natural disaster, and political unrest, but their collective resilience and unbreakable spirit has kept them afloat.
The All-Ohio show rehearses over three long weekends before opening the State Thespian Conference. It intends to provide participating students with the experience of working on an advanced level of theatrical production. Involvement in the All-Ohio show is a special honor for the participants and schools, as well as an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.