Students and staff at Eisenhower High School rid themselves of some pandemic angst recently through the production of a comedic play.
Practice for the play, “Jerry Finnegan’s Sister,” started in the fall but went into full gear last month. The play, based on the book by Jack Neary, features the character Brian Dowd, who loves his best friend’s sister, Beth, but doesn’t know how to tell her.
Finally getting back into acting was a huge relief to students and their English teacher/director, Sarina Kledzik.
“Being locked indoors with nothing to do but stare at a screen and live a monotonous life has been terrible,” said Maglio Martinez, who played Brian. “I enjoyed just being able to be on stage and be myself again.”
The role also gave Martinez, a junior, the chance to use his experience from fall plays, musicals and the Drama Club since he has been a freshman. He was also in Group Interpretation this year.
“Being in these activities has really just boosted my confidence to get on stage and perform,” he said.
Martinez and his co-lead, Sara Martin, a senior who played Beth, used their own personalities and friendship for their roles.
“She was sassy in her remarks and I felt like I could relate to that — the humor involved in it,” said Martin, who has been involved in Drama Club since she was a freshman and an avid dancer of jazz, tap and hip hop for years. “You kind of have to add certain things to make that part of the character stand out a little more.”
Martinez said he too applied his personality to the role.
“Luckily I was able to perform with one of my closest friends, which allowed me to bring our friendship to life on stage,” he said.
At the end of the play, a handful of students reflected on what the dramatic experience meant to them in monologues.
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“It’s like being in your head a lot, every little thing causes an eruption and how can you express those emotions through the arts, creativity, sports … that’s how I feel I can take out my emotions and that’s why it’s very important to me,” said drama student Desirey Castro.
Pulling off the play gave Kledzik a measure of relief and satisfaction as a way to keep drama-loving students involved even during a pandemic.
“Kids came and I did not have one kid quit the whole year,” said Kledzik, an accomplished actor in her own right. “Art is a very big passion of mine, I was a performer/director for 30 years, and it’s so important for me as well to have that outlet.
“I just knew it was just as important for kids because so many of them were dealing with depression and other things because of the pandemic.”
Kledzik brought in actors and voice-over talents to speak remotely with students about the field. She also started collaborating with Northlight Theatre in Chicago, producing an online production with students about social change and social issues.
That helped take the place of the usual in-person rehearsals and productions, as well as trips so shows.
“I think it caused me to think outside the box as a director and find opportunities for kids to be creative,” said Kledzik. “I wasn’t going to let the pandemic stop me from finding a way to bring art and joy to these students.”
Martin, who played Beth in the play, like her fellow student actors, was grateful to both Kledzik and the administration for that chance.
“It was nice to do something this year, especially since it was my last year,” said Martin.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.