Batavia Players to take on Thornton Wilder at Batavia High School

Things are about to get a whole lot WILDER at Batavia High School—and English teacher Matt Mayne is seeing to it!

Mayne, who teaches at Batavia High School (BHS), is in charge of the Batavia Players (BP) production of ‘A Wilder Evening’ (AWE), a collection of four single-act plays—which Mayne selected at random from an anthology—by famous American playwright Thornton Wilder.

The common thread connecting all four plays is family. More specifically, the plays in question attend to those aspects of family life and relations that are usually not apparent in everyday life. This is important, because it reflects a major motif in Wilder’s work.

‘He [Wilder] has a way of showing a lot of the intricate details of people’s lives,’ comments Mayne. ‘These are details we normally don’t notice because we don’t take the time to look deeply enough.’

The cast and crew of AWE are working to construct the performance in such a way that the audience is supposed to notice these details. In a typical Wilder novel or play, one may have to look harder to find them.

Mayne makes clear that while all four plays are about family, each individual play is different. Some are lighter and more humorous, others darker or ‘more tragic.’

AWE’s variety is further demonstrated by the fact that each play has a different director. The first play, 'Such Things Only Happen in Books,' is directed by Katelyn Rogers, a 2009 BHS graduate hoping to pursue a career in theater; the second, 'The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden,' is directed by Norm Argulski, BP Secretary; the third, ‘The Wreck on the Five-Twenty-Five,’ is directed by Elba teacher Michelle Case (whose daughter, Melzie, is well-known for her many performances in the Batavia area—see related article on ‘The Wiz'); finally, Mayne himself is directing the fourth play, 'The Rivers Under the Earth.'

Having four directors brings different perspectives on Wilder’s work to the performance while also signifying an exciting change in Batavia theatre. Normally, local performances are directed by either BP President Patrick D. Burk or his wife, E. Jane Burk.

'Batavia Players is branching out,' says Mayne. '[Having new directors] gives Batavia a new view of theater.'

Performances of AWE will take place at BHS on Friday, September 18th, and Saturday, September 19th, at 7:00 PM. Tickets may be pre-purchased online via the BP website.