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A group of students had an amazing time this past weekend putting on the most precious skit in the Production Workshop Upspace. Sources report the cute little play called “Waterworld,” a devised retelling of the Herman Melville classic Moby Dick from the perspective of Moby as a precocious preteen, was loads of fun and even had a message.
In the nice 90-minute show, Moby (portrayed by Malcolm Graves ‘17) swims away from home in search of krill. Instead, he finds unexpected friendships with an octopus with only seven tentacles, an easily frightened scuba diver, and a pipsqueak crabby crab named Kisses. Moby learns in the end that you can swim across an entire ocean, but you can never truly swim away from anxiety. At least not without the help of your friends.
“We wanted to create something fantastical, twisted, totally ridiculous, and touching all at once,” said eight-year-old director Tara Winkler ‘19, who also appears in the show as a friendly anthropomorphized wave that sings a love song about the moon. “I’m so proud of this thing, and I feel unbelievably grateful to work with such a lovely group of human beings at just eight years old.”
The Upspace was packed full for all eight darling performances, many proud classmates reportedly videotaping their friends’ monologues and cheering as Graves hit a high note in the final song entitled “Pool Party.” “The scene where I was splashing around above the surface and couldn’t find my friends was a real challenge for me,” said Graves, removing his powder blue wig and dorsal fin. “The dramaturgy helped me there. I got a 20-page packet filled with readings on what it’s like to live in the ocean. Really blew the whole scene open for me."
“Overall, we’re doing some really truthful work,” added Graves with such adorable conviction that it would just break your heart.
After the opening night performance of the delightful skit, the members of the cast headed backstage to cry and hug each other until their friends took them out for pizza, ice cream and king-sized candy bars. Sources confirm that at least twenty cast slumber parties are already planned for the next month so that even once the show ends, the fun doesn’t have to. Now, doesn’t that sound like a blast!
Before curtain on the Saturday performance, the cutest little house managers you’ve ever seen were reminding audience members that “student theater is free to see but hard to watch.”
