Tulpehocken Jr./Sr. High School recently presented the annual fall play under the direction of teachers, Ms. Susan Behm and Mr. Reid Mosley. Productions in the past several years have successfully blended broad, modern humor with the presentation of actual literary works, including Shakespeare in 2013, Greek myths last year and this year, The Canterbury Tales, with a Monty Python twist.
A cast and crew of about 30 students, with several actors playing more than one role, presented humorous versions of Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Friar’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale and others, as well as introducing the audience to the Cook, the Parson, the Lawyer, the Tax Man, the Doctor and the Miller, all unique characters in this ground breaking work of 14th century Middle English.
The Canterbury Tales or Geoffrey Chaucer’s Flying Circus, written by Burton Bumgarner, was the latest showcase of talent for the Tulpy actors, who began rehearsals in early September, devoting four days a week to the endeavor. While the role of author Geoffrey Chaucer was played by Dominic Torres, a 10th grader, this year’s cast and crew were made up predominantly of seniors, some of whom have worked on every production since they were in ninth grade, while others have ventured onto the stage for the first time this year. Seniors who have had their last curtain call with the fall play include Kevin Berry, Jessica Dubbs, Corrine Eckart, Timothy Groff, Allison Heckman, Morgan Hess, Maya Jurasinski, Amy Michaels, Jeremy Weiner, Kyle Wyse and Alisha Yeingst. Seniors Alexandra Ricketts and Tonya Witmer served as student directors as well as assuming character roles in the play. The part of Harry Bailey, whose humorous interactions with the other characters were woven throughout the play, was portrayed by senior Douglas Kline.
