On Saturday, Sept 28, I had the opportunity to watch Trey Rutherford’s evening production of Roald Dahl’s, “James and the Giant Peach,” produced by Drama teacher, Trey Rutherford. The play, an adapted story written by Roald Dahl, centers on James, a young boy, and his adventures with a gigantic peach as he seeks refuge from his emotionally abusive aunts.
The show begins with a Ladahlord (Senior Oliver Holmes) highlighted in a spotlight, as he starts to sing the first song “Right Before Your Eyes.” This song prepared the audience for a magic adventure and was conveyed by Holmes using a mysterious tone. Other cast members joined Holme’s introduction and effectively set the colorful, enigmatic tone of the play for the audience.
After the introduction, scene one starts with the death of James’ (Freshman Marissa Renee Worden) parents in a horrific accident with a Rhino. After waking up from his nightmare, James is sent to live with his aunts, Spiker (Sophomore Elena Popoli) and Sponge (Freshman Morgan Coulthard). James eventually finds himself inside the giant peach on an unexpected journey with his new friends. He is accompanied by Grasshopper (Senior Aron Smith), Earthworm (Senior Tay Howell), Ladybug (Sophomore Audrey Martin), Centipede (Junior Rory Berg), and Spider (Junior Lexie Brooks).
These costumes, designed by Holmes, consisted of colorful multiple skirts, suits, and dresses and suited each character’s persona well. A couple of the standout costumes included Earthworm’s very pink suit with sunglasses to highlight his poor eyesight, Grasshopper’s green and brown suit, and Ladybug’s amazing red dress full of black spots represented the characters very well. The choreography, created by Dance Instructor Courtney McClendon, allowed the actors to bring a lot of emotion to the stage. The whole show was brought together by the effective props done by Popoli. The props were crucial in giving the play its whole setting and allowing the actors the space to convey the story.
The play went very smoothly and there were no mistakes that I could discern. This was Director Trey Rutherford’s fifth year as of theater at Roswell. With the help of this very experienced director, and everyone involved, Roswell’s, “James and the Giant Peach” came together to be one of the best school plays I’ve seen.
