DELMAR — Diane Henderson-Suker is a middle school math teacher by day, and a theatre director by 3 p.m.
While Bethlehem Central Middle School has neither a drama club nor offers any theater classes, it has been producing annual plays for as long as Henderson-Sukor can remember. For the last ten years, she has been the faculty member to take on the additional responsibility of choosing, casting and directing the middle school’s theatrical production and it’s clear it’s a responsibility she enjoys.
“They just need someone to help coordinate things and inspire them and get them going and it’s all good,” she said with a smile and small shrug, sitting on a bench outside of the school’s auditorium where rehearsals were currently underway. “It’s good for self-esteem. They have a good time and it’s all student-generated.”
While they have faculty supervision, Henderson-Suker said that the students design and build the set, run lights and sound, figure out costuming and anything else the production requires. “I think kids like taking ownership,” she said. “You know?”
Although Henderson-Suker may have chosen the play, “Hydrangea Albright: Comedy or Tragedy?,” she clearly enjoys seeing her cast and crew bring their own unique brands of creativity to the project and talked about some of the creative choices that have been made as the 2017 production has evolved, such as the expansion of an introductory speaking role to include an imaginative stage design element. She laughed as she described a student playing the role of a mean teacher, “She even scares me!”
The play, written by Jeff Fluharty, portrays the life of the Albright family as told through the eyes of two opposing playwrights — one comic and one tragic. The tragic playwright portrays the life and curse of the Albright family in a negative light and the comic brings an opposing optimistic outlook. During the play within a play, the audience encounters quirky characters, humorous plot twists and the constant turmoil that affects the family. In the end, our heroine Hydrangea decides that there is more than one way to look at life.
Henderson-Suker said that she tends to choose material with a good lesson embedded in the story. Her favorite, however, was the year BCMS put on a production of Dorothy Meets Alice, a tale that blends the well-known worlds of Wonderland and Oz. “Because,” she said, “it gave students the opportunity to be even more creative than ever. It was imagination at its best, allowing students to be so expressive with the artwork, sounds, lighting, makeup and acting.”
The best thing about directing the play every year, said Henderson-Suker, is watching the students build self-confidence. “They grow so much,” she said. “I don’t have any microphones, they need to project to the last seat in the last row. Some of them start off so quiet. Most of the quieter ones are sixth graders and they’ll stay with me for three years. Each year they get more and more confident and it’s so nice to see that.”
Many of the kids who are involved with the middle school play go on to become involved with theatre in high school, according to Henderson-Suker. Sometimes they even return to help out as assistants, she said.
“I think they’re all stars,” she said of her cast. “The fact that they go out there and put their heart into it, that’s all it takes. Really, it is.”
Performances of Hydrangea Albright: Comedy or Tragedy? will take place on Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6. Shows begin at 7 p.m. in the Bethlehem Central Middle School auditorium. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door; $6 for adults, $5 for students and seniors.