They’ve done it again: After their last award-winning theatrical triumph, If We Shadows, Spartan Stage Studios has put on another play so fantastic it transported Broad Run to another world. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was an adventure, unlike anything that’s dazzled the stage before—not only did it feature a Capys-nominated lineup of actors and an entirely student-produced score, its lavishly decorated stage boasted a rotating component.
Work for the play began as early as September, when directors, teachers, and costume, prop, makeup, hair, and lighting designers toiled tirelessly to create a play as dreamy as C.S. Lewis’s critically acclaimed book. Dyana Baltazar-Toral, a senior on the paint crew, explained how that was possible. “I designed the toppers and the columns. I designed the little designs on them, which were snowflakes or leaves. The stags had antlers, so it included those things and different seasons, which was fun to do,” she explained. The rotating stage was the part she most wanted to see come to life, however, saying, “I really liked the transitions between that because I know they were working a lot with SFX stuff and different projections, so I was really excited to see that, and it was beautiful.”
Aside from allowing students’ creative potential to be realized and letting them flourish beyond the classroom, Spartan Stage Studios brings people together and shapes them. When asked how this experience changed her, Baltazar-Toral thought for a moment. “I’m a bit more outgoing,” she replied, “[and] I’m better at communication.” This makes sense—actors, crew members, and set designers have to be open to suggestions and work with, not against, one another. This was something else that challenged Baltazar-Toral: “Having to wait for some the other crews to do their work so that we could do ours […] I feel like that was the hard part, because we had to work around those deadlines, waiting for set to do their stuff.” In the end, of course, the show came together beautifully and was a perfect beginning to the winter season, and spring’s Descendants is sure to be just as impressive.
