Back In The Light

First-year director puts ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ on stage with large undertaking

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Photo Submitted by Isabelle Zurcher

The cast of “A Wrinkle In Time” performs the scene “Happy medium’s cave” on Nov. 17, 2022. “ …It does get stressful at times. But overall, I think it’s really fun and rewarding,” Macy Judd (11) said. Director Isabelle Zurcher made this large, challenging show happen in her first year of teaching.

From attending this school in her teenage years to now teaching and directing teens, director and teacher Isabelle Zurcher has come full circle and opened her first year by bringing the theater department back into the public light with “A Wrinkle In Time.”

“A lot of these teachers know me, and they know I did high school theater here, so I feel like there are people who are wondering, ‘What’s she going to do now?’” Zurcher said.

In making a show there is a lot of pressure not only for the director but for the cast and crew as well. Bella Moss (12), the stage manager for “A Wrinkle In Time,” explains the stresses of making the show happen.

“In my position as stage manager, there is a heavy weight on me to make sure that the show turns out the best that it can be. A lot of effort goes into just the general feel of the show…” Moss said.

Many of the other crew and cast members feel similarly, but others share more excitement.

“ …It does get stressful at times. But overall, I think it’s really fun and rewarding,” Macy Judd (11) said.

Through trial and triumph, the show must go on, but how did Zurcher make it happen as a first-year teacher? Just by working through it.

“I was overly ambitious with the tech when we decided to do this show. Also, our theater is old. She’s old, very old, old, old, old. She’s old and falling apart. So, yeah it’s just everything,” Zurcher said. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s super outdated, and we’re trying to figure out how that all works. Tech is not my number one area, acting is my strong suit.” 

Many of the returning actors were concerned with how Zurcher would handle the show being that it was her first, but Zurcher was more concerned with the community that came with the show.

“My thing is building a community,” Zurcher said, “and that was my biggest thing in high school when I was here. I want to have a healthy community because that’s something that a lot of high schoolers really crave and they really want. And just developing a community that I’ve helped build, I just really enjoy watching it grow within the show.”