Lafayette High School’s theater department puts on many productions every year, and although the school year is still young, they have already put on a very successful play: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Every fall, all the high schools in Virginia work hard to put together a one-act play. They take these short plays and bring them to a state-wide competition in Richmond and hold a convention that spans 5 days, typically in October. This is an annual event that all of the high schools in the Williamsburg James City County School Division participate in.
The LHS theater department showcased “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” a moving children’s story about a life of a rabbit. The original story was written by famous children’s author, Kate DiCamillo, and became a bestseller and was eventually turned into a one-act play. The story follows the life of a China rabbit who goes through the hands of many owners and learns many lessons throughout. It is a beautiful story about love and growth, which is adapted into a great 45-minute play.
I interviewed LHS’s theater teacher and director, Mrs. McCorry and she gave us some insight to why she chose this play for the fall show. She said, ”I wanted to pick a larger ensemble show to include more of Lafayette’s talent. We have 29 students in this show, and it has been amazing to work with this great group of people from two to six p.m. every day. I also picked this show because it is a beautiful children’s story that the elementary schools in our district have read for their curriculum.” She also mentioned that a few of the district’s elementary school’s 2nd grades are coming to watch Lafayette’s production in the next month. This will be a great learning experience for these elementary schoolers, and it will also be a good opportunity for the actors in this show to make an impactful performance.
I also interviewed an actor in the show, Tabitha Anderson. She told us that this has been one of her favorite fall shows at Lafayette, and she said, ”This is the first ensemble show instead of a small cast for the fall one-act, so it is nice to connect with more people onstage. Even though the set was hard to work with, it made the show come together and everything from the costumes to the music was incredible.”. She has loved working with this show and is happy with her performance in it.
The LHS theater company has worked hard to produce “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” to its full potential, and I would say that they have definitely succeeded. It is a beautiful story, and Lafayette theater has done it justice.
