Want to see an exciting play full of comedy and drama? Well, this year’s fall play, The Three Musketeers, has all that and more. The play follows D’artagnan as he and his sister Sabine travel to Paris so D’artagnan can become a musketeer like his father.
One of the most prominent features of the play is the swordplay and fight choreography. As well as direction from Mr. Porter, actors will also be working with professional fight choreographer Casey Kaleba, who worked with actors last year during the musical, The Lightning Thief.
Senior Anwen Kelleher, who plays a villain named Milady, jokes that “It’s fun to go crazy with metal objects” as an actor, and said “I hope the audience will look forward to the fights”.
Senior Gabriel Martinez, who plays protagonist D’artagnan, said the fight choreography is a “great opportunity to enhance the show” and Kelleher noted that, while in the early stages of rehearsal blocking scenes without a fight choreographer was hard to do, having both a professional choreographer and seasoned actors now helps things run smoothly.
The play is adapted from the book by Alexandre Dumas by Ken Ludwig, an American playwright who usually writes comedies. Mr. Porter likes this adaptation especially because of Ludwig’s background in comedy, which enhanced the banter and the characterization. In discussing many of the other reasons he enjoys this adaptation Mr. Porter said “the playwright has written several strong female roles,” such as the character of Sabine, who did not originally exist in the book.
Mr. Porter says he picked this play because he knew he “wanted to do something fun this year” and that the Three Musketeers fit the bill.
As the director, Mr. Porter hopes that with this play actors will become well versed in period movement, which includes skills such as how to bow properly and use what were considered to be appropriate manners at the time. He also hopes that given the comedic nature of the adaptation actors will learn more about contemporary comedy as they utilize skills such as comedic timing and physical precision.
Anyone interested in attending the show should look forward to “lots of fights and an almost cinematic shifting of scenes,” said Mr. Porter. Even if you have never heard of “The Three Musketeers” you can still enjoy the show, as this adaptation presents itself as a unique version of the story while still giving the audience the basic foundation of the timeless classic.
Rehearsal is not without its hard parts though. Martinez also mentioned that it can at times be hard to keep a straight face during some of the serious scenes as most members of the cast already have chemistry outside of rehearsal.
One example of difficult scenes Martinez provided are scenes with Sophomore Kamil Owoyemi who plays D’artagnan’s father. He noted these scenes can be hard sometimes because it is funny for him to think of his friend as his father during the scene. Kelleher notes as well that obligations outside of rehearsal such as the college application process for seniors can interfere at times, but despite difficulties everything is going well and the cast is having a good time.
You can see the play on November 4th, 5th, at 7:30 PM and 6th at 3:00 PM. Look forward to a balance of serious moments with captivating swordplay and light-hearted and witty dialogue.
Parker Boyles ’24
