Grace Stathos
The Malden High School Play Production class has for the second year in a row moved on to semi-finals of the Massachusetts Drama Festival competition. Despite Polyamorous Taxidermists’ controversial content, MHS was one of the three schools to move on and will be competing in the next round of Drama Fest.
“We head[ed] to the competition… focused on just putting on an original show,” stated director Sean Walsh. The play, written entirely by the students, features three polyamorous taxidermists Chip, Gary and Ted, played by junior Will Lombard, and seniors Daniel Rendon and Eddie Fisher, who are chosen to star in their own reality show, “Stiff Love.” The show quickly becomes a hit, but the producers, (sophomore Fernanda Muhlbeier and senior Julia Biederman), begin making changes to the show, bringing Chip (Fisher) into the spotlight, and sending Ted (Lombard) and Gary (Rendon) “back, and back a little more.” To engage more viewers, the producers begin to cause controversy by asking Chip to stuff a baby panda, an endangered species.
While the reality show is going on, “Poly Tax” also follows a family watching “Stiff Love,” and how the show affects their lives. After seeing how happy Chip, Gary and Ted are, the parents (sophomore Ramy Riviere and junior Christy Ringdahl) decide to begin dating their daughters’ (seniors Jaclyn Scales and Sarah Rose) English teacher, Ms. Zuckerman (senior Mary Stathos), in an attempt to save their marriage. Their idea quickly backfires when their daughters begin viewing Ms. Zuckerman as their mother, and shunning their actual mom, and eventually even their father loves her more than his own wife. Another member of the family is their dog, Rex (junior Jonathan Drapinski), who is constantly letting out remarks such as “I smell a divorce,” which is comprehended by the family as just barking.
“Poly Tax” is split into segments, one being an entertainment newscast. The newscasters are played by seniors Sarah Fraas and Samuel Zeiberg. Fraas and Zeiberg report on entertainment news throughout the play, advertising spoof reality shows such as “Dance Uncles” and “Keeping Up With the Romney’s.” When asked if she can relate to her character, Fraas replied that her character “is very stiff and cold, and [Fraas is] not like that.” Also, the show pokes fun at social networking, featuring made up posts by Sarah Palin (sophomore Justine Rose), and MHS students.
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