By Taylor Maloch
Staff Writer
This summer, when Northwood drama teacher Lori Carlin knew her acting ensemble class was all girls, she knew she had a problem. So she put her skills to the test and wrote an all-girls play called Mirrors. The opening show was last night, and performances will continue Saturday and Sunday.
“I knew there wasn’t going to be [a play] that we could do that was going to be good or that was going to have decent roles for all of the girls. I wanted them to have one play that they could all work on together,” Carlin said.
Carlin wrote the first draft of the play in one month, ultimately completing three drafts.
“It’s taking a risk,” Carlin said. “Putting myself out there as a writer is something I’m not confident about.”
Carlin wrote the play with the help of her acting ensemble class, a group of 14 girls, this past summer. The students edited the script and added qualities to their characters that they wanted.
“I imagined [the play] in my head before my girls even got their hands on it, so I know how I want things pronounced, and that makes me more of a control freak than I usually am,” Carlin said.
When Carlin first started writing the play she knew she wanted it to be about teenage girls.
“I was writing toward a group of girls,” Carlin said. “I wanted it to be meaningful for them.”
At one point it was about the entire cast playing three characters. But after thinking about it, Carlin came across an article by one of her former students about summer reading lists.
“I was tickled by [her article], because even though I was a nerd, I struggled with getting my summer reading list done,” Carlin said. “I thought how interesting it would be for teenagers to see how the books they are reading can be reflected in their own lives.”
Carlin decided this would be a good idea, and it tied in with the curriculum in the English department. The outline of the play is about three sisters in different places in high school, relating to popular books from The Hunger Games to The Great Gatsby.
“The reading reflects who they are and the struggles that they face,” Carlin said.
Even though only the acting ensemble class will be performing onstage, a lot of groups around Northwood are helping out. The art department is helping with posters, Carlin’s technical theater class is designing the set and senior Hunter Flaugher and his group of technicians are doing the sound.
Saturday’s performance is at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s show begins at 3 p.m. The cost to attend is $5.