Read all about it! NOW SHOWING! ONE WEEKEND TO GO. OPENING WEEKEND A SMASH SUCCESS! DON'T MISS IT. CLICK FOR MORE INTO Murder Me Once and The Real Inspector Hound REMAINING DATES: Mar. 6, 7, 8 2019-20 Production Schedule
Fall Production: Short Plays Oct. 25, 26 Nov. 1, 2, 3 The 24-1/2 Hour Play Festival Dec. 6, 7 Spring Production: The Real Inspector Hound and Murder Me Once Feb 28, 29, Mar. 6, 7, 8 The Drama Award Show Friday, May 22 |
DRAMA INSTRUCTOR/DIRECTOR
JOHN RUSTAN, PhD |
SPRING 2019
Black Comedy & 15 Minute Hamlet |
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BLACK COMEDY and 15 MINUTE HAMLET The plays performed in March of the Spring of 2019, and were a huge success.
CASA GRANDE GOES FOR LAUGHS IN BLACK COMEDY AND 15 MINUTE HAMLET
Casa Grande High School students will present Peter Shaffer’s brilliant farce, Black Comedy, along with Tom Stoppard’s hilarious 15 Minute Hamlet. The plays will perform Friday and Saturday evenings March 1, 2, 8, and 9 at 7:00 pm, and a Sunday matinee March 10 at 1:00 pm.
"Black Comedy," an early farce by Peter Shaffer is unusual in that it begins with the stage in total darkness, but the characters moving about as though they can see perfectly fine. Then, when the characters in the play experience an electrical short in their flat, the stage is flooded with light. This allows the chaos resulting from the blackout to be visible to the audience.
The chaos that ensues involves a young sculptor named Brindsley and his fiancée, who are expecting a visit from the world’s richest art collector. To complicate matters, his fiancée’s father is coming to meet him and judge his fitness for matrimony. To make matters even worse, they have “borrowed” their neighbor’s nice furniture to make an impression, planning to return the furniture before the neighbor returns from an out-of-town trip. And yes, of course, the neighbor returns early, causing Brindsley to have to return all of the borrowed furniture in complete darkness. Add to this, a nervous upstairs lady and the reappearance of Brindsley’s old girlfriend, and the fun begins! It is near-misses, pratfalls, mistaken identity, and the wrong people showing up at the wrong time -- and everything else that can comically go wrong in the dark. The play is set in London in 1965 -- the set and costumes reflecting the mid-sixties colors and the “mod” look of the period.
Prior to Black Comedy on the double-bill is Tom Stoppard’s 15 Minute Hamlet,
a hilarious cutting of the play using Shakespeare’s actual words. It compresses the 4 hour masterpiece into the essential moments and scenes, performed by seven actors. The play is actually completed in 13 minutes with an encore presentation of Hamletdone in just two minutes.
Both playwrights are icons of British Theatre, whose plays have been done all over the world. Peter Shaffer wonTony awards for Equus and Amadeus, as well as an Oscar and a Golden Globe . Tom Stoppard has won three Tony Awards, as well as Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Shakespeare in Love.
Drama Teacher, John Rustan, directs both plays which include Casa Grande students Brooke O’Flaherty, Erik Mander, Haylie Silva, Matthew Bortel, Ariana Mendez, Miranda Martinez, Destiny Knesek, Holly Van Renselaar, Matthew Mason, Lily Guiterrez, Logan Null, Connor Kruljac, Willow McMinn, Jackson Vaughn, and Jared Humphreys. Many other Casa Grande students are involved in the technical elements of the production.
Tickets are at the door: $10.00 General Admission, $5.00 students, faculty, seniors, and children under 12.
Casa Grande High School students will present Peter Shaffer’s brilliant farce, Black Comedy, along with Tom Stoppard’s hilarious 15 Minute Hamlet. The plays will perform Friday and Saturday evenings March 1, 2, 8, and 9 at 7:00 pm, and a Sunday matinee March 10 at 1:00 pm.
"Black Comedy," an early farce by Peter Shaffer is unusual in that it begins with the stage in total darkness, but the characters moving about as though they can see perfectly fine. Then, when the characters in the play experience an electrical short in their flat, the stage is flooded with light. This allows the chaos resulting from the blackout to be visible to the audience.
The chaos that ensues involves a young sculptor named Brindsley and his fiancée, who are expecting a visit from the world’s richest art collector. To complicate matters, his fiancée’s father is coming to meet him and judge his fitness for matrimony. To make matters even worse, they have “borrowed” their neighbor’s nice furniture to make an impression, planning to return the furniture before the neighbor returns from an out-of-town trip. And yes, of course, the neighbor returns early, causing Brindsley to have to return all of the borrowed furniture in complete darkness. Add to this, a nervous upstairs lady and the reappearance of Brindsley’s old girlfriend, and the fun begins! It is near-misses, pratfalls, mistaken identity, and the wrong people showing up at the wrong time -- and everything else that can comically go wrong in the dark. The play is set in London in 1965 -- the set and costumes reflecting the mid-sixties colors and the “mod” look of the period.
Prior to Black Comedy on the double-bill is Tom Stoppard’s 15 Minute Hamlet,
a hilarious cutting of the play using Shakespeare’s actual words. It compresses the 4 hour masterpiece into the essential moments and scenes, performed by seven actors. The play is actually completed in 13 minutes with an encore presentation of Hamletdone in just two minutes.
Both playwrights are icons of British Theatre, whose plays have been done all over the world. Peter Shaffer wonTony awards for Equus and Amadeus, as well as an Oscar and a Golden Globe . Tom Stoppard has won three Tony Awards, as well as Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Shakespeare in Love.
Drama Teacher, John Rustan, directs both plays which include Casa Grande students Brooke O’Flaherty, Erik Mander, Haylie Silva, Matthew Bortel, Ariana Mendez, Miranda Martinez, Destiny Knesek, Holly Van Renselaar, Matthew Mason, Lily Guiterrez, Logan Null, Connor Kruljac, Willow McMinn, Jackson Vaughn, and Jared Humphreys. Many other Casa Grande students are involved in the technical elements of the production.
Tickets are at the door: $10.00 General Admission, $5.00 students, faculty, seniors, and children under 12.
Below: Matthew Mason and Lily Gutierrez receive instruction from Rick Pallaziol on how to do comic pratfalls for the production of BLACK COMEDY.
24-1/2 HOURS OF INTENSE THEATRE!
PLAYS WRITTEN: FRIDAY EVENING, DEC. 7TH, 2018
PLAYS PRODUCED: SATURDAY, DEC. 8TH, 2018
CASA STUDENTS: SEE MR. RUSTAN ON ANY B DAY BETWEEN NOV. 26 AND DEC. 6 TO SIGN UP AS A PLAYWRIGHT AND/OR ACTOR -- AND FILL OUT PROFILE.
GO TO THE 24-1/2 HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL PAGE TO GET MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.
ACTORS ABOVE PARTICIPATING IN THE 24-HOUR THEATRE FESTIVAL
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PICTURES FROM 7 WONDERS -- THE FALL LINE-UP OF SEVEN STUDENT-WRITTEN, STUDENT-DIRECTED ONE-ACT PLAYS
PICTURED AT TOP: Connor Kruljac threatens to quit the pressures of AP Courses, Homework, and Big Testing in Junior, Jackson Vaughn's one-act play, I Quit!
PICTURED JUST ABOVE: Miranda Mohammed and Connor Kruljac as high schoolers figuring out life and love at the school dance, in Matthew Mason's Dancing With Myself.
PICTURED BELOW: In Dancing With Myself, a high schooler (Connor Kruljac) gets an earful from his domineering girlfriend (Skyler Finley)
PICTURED AT TOP: Connor Kruljac threatens to quit the pressures of AP Courses, Homework, and Big Testing in Junior, Jackson Vaughn's one-act play, I Quit!
PICTURED JUST ABOVE: Miranda Mohammed and Connor Kruljac as high schoolers figuring out life and love at the school dance, in Matthew Mason's Dancing With Myself.
PICTURED BELOW: In Dancing With Myself, a high schooler (Connor Kruljac) gets an earful from his domineering girlfriend (Skyler Finley)
STUDENT-WRITTEN ONE-ACT PLAYS
Opening Oct. 26 and continuing on Oct 27, Nov. 2 and 3 @7pm and Nov. 4 at 1PM
Original student-written, student-directed, and student-acted short plays. Last year, in the Intermediate/Advanced class, we studied playwriting and all of the students wrote 10-minute plays. Those chosen for main stage production were selected through a multiple-step process involving four judges.
Moving Day -- Felicity Walter
Evading Space -- Hannah Von Thal
I Quit! -- Jackson Vaughan
Witchery -- Arie Mendez
Dancing with Myself -- Matthew Mason
Delicious Family Sized Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner -- Jerry Yang
Phone Call -- Lily Gutierrez
TWELFTH NIGHT TOOK THE STAGE!
Arguably Shakespeare's most hilarious pure comedy, the play involves identical separated twins, mistaken identity, mistaken gender, triangles of unrequited (and then requited) love, swordplay, pratfalls, hilarious characters, and a plot that keeps twisting and turning. The play opened March 2 and continued March 3, 9 and 10 at 7:00 pm, and Sunday March 11 at 1:00.
Arguably Shakespeare's most hilarious pure comedy, the play involves identical separated twins, mistaken identity, mistaken gender, triangles of unrequited (and then requited) love, swordplay, pratfalls, hilarious characters, and a plot that keeps twisting and turning. The play opened March 2 and continued March 3, 9 and 10 at 7:00 pm, and Sunday March 11 at 1:00.
IT'S A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY!
THANK YOU BOOSTERS! For helping us to the tune of $500 toward the royalties for the one-act plays for the Fall 2017 production of WHAT LIES AHEAD!
WHAT LIES AHEAD -- FALL 2017 MAIN-STAGE PRODUCTION
What Lies Ahead - Fall 2017
BIG TESTING
COUNSELOR ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Guiterrez
MS. SHRINKER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brooke O’Flaherty
DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT SCOREMAN ----------------------------------------------------------- Jackson Vaughn
MRS. SMOTHERS -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Willow McMinn-Dinger
MR. BROADMINDED --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Bortel
DR. HANS PILSMORE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Jerry Yang
VINCENT TESTIGLIONI ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aidan Healy
PRESIDENT COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS -------------------------------------------------------------- Cody Johnson
AUDIENCE PLANT 1/MEDICAL ASSISTANT ------------------------------------------------------------Connor Kruljac
AUDIENCE PLANT 2/MEDICAL ASSISTANT ------------------------------------------------------------ Connor Adams
ARABIAN NIGHTS
INTERPRETER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arie Mendez
FLORA-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hannah Von Thal
NORMAN---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jared Humphreys
BRIDE AND GLOOM
MAN------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jared Wong
WOMAN----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheyenne Jordan
PILLOW TALK
TIFFANY HEAVEN--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hannah Von Thal
MARK BLOOMER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Mason
DR. ROGER CREOSOTE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jake Meininger
JAYDEEN BLOOMER: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arie Mendez
PLAYWRIGHTING 101
JUMPER----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alexis Cawley
GOOD SAMARITAN-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leilani Picket
THE TEACHER----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Destiny Knesek
THE M WORD
MAN-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connor Kruljac
WOMAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brooke O’Flaherty
YOUR MOTHER’S BUTT
PSYCHOLOGIST ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Guiterrez
CLIENT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Logan Null
Performance dates: Oct. 27, 28, Nov. 3, 4, 5.
2016-17 DRAMA AWARDS
MAY 26, 2017.
MURDER'S IN THE HEIR - SPRING 2017:
MARCH 3, 4, 10, 11,and 12, IN THE NMU AT CASA GRANDE.
THE CAST OF MURDER'S IN THE HEIR:
SIMON STARKWEATHER/YOUNG SIMON--------------------------------------------- LOGAN NULL
FIONA STARKWEATHER------------------------------------------------------------- CAITLIN GURTNER
JORDAN STARKWEATHER----------------------------------------------------------- MATTHEW MASON
PAULA THOMPSON----------------------------------------------------------------- BRITTANY KRULJAC
BENSONHURST, the butler--------------------------------------------------------JACKSON VAUGHN
MRS. TRENT, the housekeeper-------------------------------------------------- ANESIA FRANKLIN
MINERVA WALKER, the cook--------------------------------------------------------------ALLIE RONES
NANCY, the maid------------------------------------------------------------- HOLLY VAN RENSELAER
RUFUS, the handyman------------------------------------------------------------ MATTHEW BORTELL
LOIS, the lawyer---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LILY GUTIEREZ
MRS. ZIMMER-STRASSEN, the nurse-----------------------------------------------------ARI MENDEZ
KATHY COLLINS, secretary--------------------------------------------------------- SYDNEY BENNETT
MASON STONE, private detective----------------------------------------------------RYAN SHATKIN
STONE Understudy--------------------------------------------------------------------------AIDAN HEALY
AUDIENCE DECIDES WHO DONE IT, IN COMIC MURDER MYSTERY AT CASA GRANDE
Casa Grande High School students will presented Murder’s in the Heir, a fun and comic murder mystery where the audience votes at intermission on who, of many suspects, actually committed the murder.
The performances will run March 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 pm and March 12th at 1pm.
Murder’s in the Heir involves the solving of the murder of eccentric billionaire, Simon Starkweather who is contemplating a last minute will change that will essentially cut his family and his household staff out of very large inheritance bequests. Starkweather, has decided to clone himself so that his fortune will remain with him – or at least his new cloned self. The suspects are many – the shy maid, the cranky cook, the strong nurse, the Southern Bell, the playboy grand-nephew, the grandson, the doddering niece, the handyman, the housekeeper, and of course, there is the possibility that the butler did it. This leaves a beleaguered Private Detective to try to unravel a multitude of clues.
The author of the play, Billy St. John, provides plenty of motives for everyone, and writes with a strong sense of loving parody of the drawing room murder mystery, adding plenty of comic touches. He gives each major suspect their own deadly weapon (The handyman and his ax, the neice with the bottle of pills, the cook with the knife, and so on). Once the first act is over, the audience has seen each of these suspects and had a chance to observe their behavior. At intermission, ballots are given to each member of the audience Each casts their vote for whom they believe to be the murderer. The suspect gets the most votes turns out to be the murderer at that performance. This presents unique acting challenges for the actors, who have to be prepared each night to perform an alternate ending if they are voted as the killer. The audience will not know the outcome of the voting until the killer is revealed on stage.
The production was directed by Casa Grande drama teacher, John Rustan. The cast of the production included Casa Grande students Ryan Shatkin, Brittany Kruljac, Caitlin Gurtner, Ariana Mendez, Logan Null, Matthew Bortel, Jackson Vaughn, Holly Van Renselayer, Lily Guiterez, Matthew Mason, Sidney Bennett, Anesia Franklin and Allie Rones. Many other Casa Grande students and parents wereinvolved in the technical and front-of-house aspects of the production.
Performances ran March 3, 4, 10, 11 7:00 pm, and March 12 at 1:00 pm. Tickets are at the door: $8.00 adults, $5.00 students, faculty, seniors, and children.
Casa Grande High School students will presented Murder’s in the Heir, a fun and comic murder mystery where the audience votes at intermission on who, of many suspects, actually committed the murder.
The performances will run March 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7 pm and March 12th at 1pm.
Murder’s in the Heir involves the solving of the murder of eccentric billionaire, Simon Starkweather who is contemplating a last minute will change that will essentially cut his family and his household staff out of very large inheritance bequests. Starkweather, has decided to clone himself so that his fortune will remain with him – or at least his new cloned self. The suspects are many – the shy maid, the cranky cook, the strong nurse, the Southern Bell, the playboy grand-nephew, the grandson, the doddering niece, the handyman, the housekeeper, and of course, there is the possibility that the butler did it. This leaves a beleaguered Private Detective to try to unravel a multitude of clues.
The author of the play, Billy St. John, provides plenty of motives for everyone, and writes with a strong sense of loving parody of the drawing room murder mystery, adding plenty of comic touches. He gives each major suspect their own deadly weapon (The handyman and his ax, the neice with the bottle of pills, the cook with the knife, and so on). Once the first act is over, the audience has seen each of these suspects and had a chance to observe their behavior. At intermission, ballots are given to each member of the audience Each casts their vote for whom they believe to be the murderer. The suspect gets the most votes turns out to be the murderer at that performance. This presents unique acting challenges for the actors, who have to be prepared each night to perform an alternate ending if they are voted as the killer. The audience will not know the outcome of the voting until the killer is revealed on stage.
The production was directed by Casa Grande drama teacher, John Rustan. The cast of the production included Casa Grande students Ryan Shatkin, Brittany Kruljac, Caitlin Gurtner, Ariana Mendez, Logan Null, Matthew Bortel, Jackson Vaughn, Holly Van Renselayer, Lily Guiterez, Matthew Mason, Sidney Bennett, Anesia Franklin and Allie Rones. Many other Casa Grande students and parents wereinvolved in the technical and front-of-house aspects of the production.
Performances ran March 3, 4, 10, 11 7:00 pm, and March 12 at 1:00 pm. Tickets are at the door: $8.00 adults, $5.00 students, faculty, seniors, and children.
SECOND ANNUAL 24-1/2 HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL was a HUGE success! -- Plays written, directed, rehearsed, acted, tech'd and performed all in one 24-1/2-hour period.
CLICK HERE for more information and STUNNING PICTURES OF THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL
CLICK HERE for more information and STUNNING PICTURES OF THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL
THE MATING GAME -- FALL 2016
Pictured Above: Actors and technicians basing flats, working on the sets for the Fall play 2016.
COMEDY AND ROMANTIC COMPLICATIONS AT CASA GRANDE
Casa Grande High School students will present The Mating Game, six hilarious one-acts with the theme of the complications of love and relationships. The performances will run October 28, 29, and November 4 and 5 at 7 pm and November 6 at 1pm. The Mating Game comprises six short comic plays on romantic themes set in the past, present and future. Three of the plays are by David Ives, and three are by John Rustan. In Variations on the Death of Trotsky, we encounter the revolutionary in his home in Coyocan, Mexico writing down his theories when his wife discovers a mountain climbing axe burried in his skull (which is how Trotsky actually died). The play examines several hilarious scenarios about how that might have happened. In English Made Simple, a social scientist explains in comic terms the social conventions and language patterns of party-goers in search of the “love of their lives.” In Damaged Goods, a man and woman, in the not-too-distant future, return their genetically engineered cyborg mates to the department store from which they were purchased because, like human mates, what seems promising turns out to be not what was advertised. Speed Mating is also set in the near future when the speed with which our busy lives unfold makes it difficult to find and maintain romantic relationships. John and Mary decide to try the latest thing, Speed Mating, a hosted event in which they can have an entire relationship, from first encounter to final break up, in ten minutes. Finally, The Universal Language, finds a young and timid woman answering an ad promising that she can change her life by learning the new language, Unamunda. She gets more than a new language, as Unamunda is the language of love. David Ives is best known for writing comic one-act plays, a reputation which resulted in the New York Times referring to him as the "maestro of the short form." Ives has also written dramatic plays, narrative stories, and screenplays. His comic one-acts The Universal Language, Variations on the Death of Trotsky, and English Made Simple are among his plays under the title All in the Timing, that in 1995-96 were the most performed plays in the country after those of Shakespeare. John Rustan is Casa Grande’s drama teacher, and also a published and produced playwright whose plays have been done all over the continent over the past 30 years. The production is directed by Casa Grande drama teacher, John Rustan, assisted by Casa alum, Jennifer Biancalana. The cast of the production includes Casa Grande students Zachary Parriera, Brittany Kruljac, Aidan Healey, Ryan Shatkin, Jared Humphreys, Cody Johnson, Caitlin Gurtner, Mikayla Simpson, Lily Downs, Willow McMinn-Dinger, Ariana Mendez, Alyza Cervantes, Logan Null, Matthew Bortel, Holly Renselayer, Lily Guiterez, Haleigh Walter, and Matthew Mason. Many other Casa Grande students and parents are involved in the technical and front-of-house aspects of the production. Performances run October 28, 29, Nov 4, and 5 at 7:00 pm, and Nov 6 at 1:00 pm. Tickets are at the door: $8.00 adults, $5.00 students, faculty, seniors, and children. UPCOMING . . .
Drama Club meets First A Day at lunch in G-3 (the Drama Room) The club has elected officers: Congratulations to: PRESIDENT: JARED HUMPHREYS The club engages in all things theatre, including improvisation, stand-up comedy, scene-work, the Homecoming Parade, special performance projects, and more! The club is student-governed and will shape it's own destiny, under the sponsership of Mr. Rustan. Join the fun! Casa Grande High School Drama Department
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CASA'S SECOND ANNUAL
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