Contributed by the Brookwood theatre department
Brookwood will present “A Limb of Snow” by Anna Marie Barlow and “Abominable” by Michael T. Hesford on Thursday, March 3, and Saturday, March 5, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 6, at 2 p.m. in the Classic Gym.
These two one-act plays use snowstorms to develop the plot and look at the human will to survive through different lenses.
“A Limb of Snow” has been described as “simply superb; it is also totally original, unlike anything in the contemporary manner.” It takes place in a cabin in the High Sierras in the 1890s, just as the gold strikes are petering out. A young woman listens to the snow piling up on a limb over the roof. With her is her husband, who is the perpetual optimist. As their pending doom gathers, they must decide whether they continue the life’s course they are on or if they move off of the mountains and pursue a more traditional life. This performance features senior Franklin Wildes, who is will graduate in May after having been in 17 different shows, and junior Danica Lee.
“Abominable” is set in the Dakota territories in the 1880s. When a ferocious blizzard hits a Midwestern town without warning, a young teacher and her students are left trapped in a one-room schoolhouse. The teacher, Miss Blake, arrives in the morning concerned with controlling her rambunctious charges and keeping her courtship out of the town gossip, but when the storm hits, it’s the rapidly dwindling fuel for the stove that becomes crucial. Unlikely students rise to the occasion as they all face a life-and-death decision: should they stay in the schoolhouse and risk freezing, or venture out into a storm so brutal that they’ve seen locals lose their bearings — and even their sanity?
This script is heartrending drama based on the events of the 1888 “Children’s Blizzard.” Cast members for this performance includes seasoned and new actors: Ayawyn Conner, Maci Cunitz, Dawson Graewin, Bryce Halverson, Bailey Hammon, Jacqueline Hernandez, Katherine McElhose, Cooper Powell, Drew Powell, and Brayden Thieman.
All tickets are $5 and can be purchased from cast members or by emailing the director Kim Neal Nofsinger at knofsinger@now.k12.wi.us. Tickets will also be available at the door 30 minutes before the performance.
