Tales From Ground Zero: Jenks Theatre Department Puts On 110 Stories
By: Judson Harris
It’s been nearly 4 years since a play has been added to the shows the Jenks Theatre Department cycles through every few years. The last play to enter the cycle, The Grapes of Wrath, ran in the fall of 2019.
9/11 casts a long shadow over the student body of Jenks High School. The current generation of kids attending Jenks High School weren’t alive to experience the tragedy, so it’s hard to form any meaningful connection to it. Seeing the stories told in this play could give the student body a better understanding of what happened on that day. This play is called 110 Stories.
The drama teachers, Kevin Hurst and Jeannie Boudiette wanted to break away from the usual cycle and try something contemporary. The problem, however, was that most contemporary plays aren’t written for a large cast.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve done anything really contemporary. So I wanted to do something different and contemporary,” said Hurst. “Then someone recommended this play as a show we could put lots of people in, and then I just kind of fell in love with it.”
110 Stories is a play written by Sarah Tuft inspired by real firsthand accounts from a variety of people on what they experienced on September 11, 2001. The story follows characters from all walks of life such as Firefighter Don Casey, author Elizabeth Gilbert, and homeless resident Terrence as they recount their experiences both on that day and then in the following weeks. All of the characters in this play are real people. This play is a Docudrama.
“I wanted to do something about people being kind. In this day and age, I think we can all use some kindness,” said Hurst. A core theme of this play is humanity. How people were able to come together regardless of race, wealth, or political alignment, and help with the relief efforts as one people, totally undivided.
The play is set in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City, in and around the Twin Towers. The main set will consist of two large piles of rubble, meant to simulate Ground Zero. The two piles are decorated with broken steel i-beams, chunks of concrete, and concrete dust.
“We’re trying to replicate the scrap metal and debris,” said Hurst. “At the same time, we want the Twin Towers to be a prominent visual in our production. We are splitting multiple images.”
The set won’t be as elaborate as in other shows, but it still serves its purpose to give the characters more things to stand on to create more dynamic poses and pictures. On a screen behind the set, various images and videos will be projected to add more detail and depth to the characters’ monologues.
Jenks Tech Crew working hard to build the set.
With the play being about such a heavy topic as 9/11, it surely would attract attention from a lot of groups. One such group is the club Young Americans for Freedom. This club has held a memorial ceremony each year where flags are put out around Building 6, each flag corresponding to a life lost on that day. The co-chairs are thrilled that this show is being put on.
“I think it’s an absolutely wonderful thing that the Theatre department is doing,” said Joshua Taylor, co-chair of the Young Americans for Freedom Club. “I think it will help each and every person in the cast develop a further understanding of what 9/11 means.”
For many students in the department, being in this show has helped with seeing what happened on an individual scale. Everyone has seen videos of the towers being hit, but being able to hear the accounts of those who survived through the play adds a new level of depth to the tragedy.
“Being able to hear from just one person who experienced this tragedy,” said Taylor, “would give the cast and audience more knowledge on it for them to carry onto the next generation.”
The biggest concern from those outside the Theatre department is if the play will be performed with enough respect and sensitivity. Lead actor Gannon Beberstein is determined to give the play the weight it deserves.
“I work every day to picture these people as individual human beings,” said Bernstein. “To think that 2977 stories were put to an end, it’s hard to think that all those people are gone. Things like that trigger my emotions enough to portray the emotions as realistically as possible.”
A look at a typical morning rehearsal.
Many traumatic moments are handled with the utmost reverence. Every cast member does all they can to show respect and convey how the tragedy impacted the character they’re playing.
110 Stories is premiering Thursday, October 5th, and running through October 7th in the Jenks PAC. Each of the shows starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets cost $7 for students, $10 for adults, and free with an activity pass. Tickets can also be purchased directly from the cast. See the Theatre department for more info.
