Falcon Playhouse presents ‘The Canterville Ghost’
By Ashley Shah
The Falcon Playhouse, Scripps Ranch High School’s (SRHS) theater program, will present “The Canterville Ghost” as its annual fall production.
“The Canterville Ghost” will have four performances. The shows will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 24, 25 and 26. There will be a matinee show beginning at 1 p.m. on Oct. 26.
“‘The ‘Canterville Ghost’ is about an American family that is moving into the Canterville Chase, a manor in England,” said Patrick Garcia, director and SRHS theater teacher. “Sir Simon de Canterville is a spirit that haunts the manor. His goal is to try to get this new family out of the manor, only to realize it’ll be more difficult than he anticipated.”
Sir Simon de Canterville is played by Jaden Richardson, with Reese Chell the understudy.
“Sir Simon tries different ways to get the family out, including recruiting other spirits,” Garcia said. “However, Virginia, the sister of the wife that bought the manor, ends up working with Sir Simon to find peace and resolution.”
Virginia is played by Luana Sarjiani, with Bella L. the understudy.
“Virginia also ends up working with and developing a small romance with Lord Cecil, who lived at the manor. Lord Cecil is a distant relative of Sir Simon,” Garcia said.
Lord Cecil is played by Ian McCollough.
“There are also comedic components to the story. A lot of the comedic breaks come from Madam Balaklava who is the ‘psychic researcher,’” Garcia said.
Madam Balaklava is played by Mia Schemer alongside Sophia Olegario, the understudy.
There are 28 cast members, including understudies, and 15 crew members for this production. The student stage manager is Arshaya Nagaveakar.
The production has been in the works for more than two months.
“We held auditions the first week of school, which is earlier than what we usually do. We started rehearsals the second week of school. We built the set the third week of school, which was student designed. We have hit the ground running with this play,” Garcia said.
Isabel Kaufman is the set designer for this production.
“Isabel, as the scenic charge, was in charge of the color theme and deciding all of the scenic components of this production,” Garcia said.
The cast and crew spent around 10 hours every week preparing for the show.
“Actors will be handing out candy to the young kids that come in costume on the opening night,” Garcia said. “We are also hoping to get the Girl Scouts at our matinee show, so that they can get their theater badge.”
To purchase tickets visit tix.com and search for SRHS or Falcon Playhouse.
The funds from the tickets sold go right back into the theater program.
“The ticket sales help to offset the cost of our equipment or festivals that we take students to,” Garcia said. “We are hoping to take some more students this year to the State Thespian Festival, which is a three day event where students can learn more about theater, and also compete. Last year, we had five out of seven students receive an all superior rating, which is the highest rating in the competition.”
In addition to this production, there will be two other productions throughout the year.
“Our musical, ‘Gypsy,’ will be around late February to early March. Our final production, ‘One Stoplight Town,’ will be fully student directed in May,” Garcia said.
Visit falconplayhouse.com.