This year, Highlands’ theater department decided this year’s fall play would be ‘The Kentucky Cycle.’
The Kentucky Cycle is a nine one-act play in which it follows a 200-year span of the Rowen bloodline. The Rowens, in the earlier parts of the play, own a massive amount of land that was stolen from Native Americans. Not shown in our production, one of the Rowens, after stealing the land, had enslaved a Native American woman and forced her to have children with him. Throughout the show, this land evolves continuously as it’s sold off, and rebuilt for access to resources such as coal.
When the show was first announced, everyone in the department was pretty confused about how director Jason Burgess planned to put on the show.
“I needed to come out and be clear when I started the process. I did not communicate very well.”
Burgess originally stated he planned to do all nine acts of the play.
“I mistakenly spoke about the show, so I had to move forward by easing people’s minds that the problem parts of the show, we would not do.”
Burgess chose to do the last four one acts in the play, ‘Tall Tales,’ ‘Fire in the Hole,’ ‘Which Side Are You On?’ and ‘The War on Poverty.’ Each of the acts takes a close look at a different generation of the Rowen family, as well as the ways the land has changed over time.
This avoids the controversial parts of the show, so students can feel more at ease when approaching the very deep show.
This month starts the rehearsal process for the show. On Monday, September 11, most of the cast and crew got the opportunity to read the full play and get familiar with the aspects the show has to offer.
Senior Rowan Cavanagh commented: “I think the show is going to be very good, unexpectedly good, there is a lot of nuance in the show and I think through rehearsal we are going to make the performance very strong.”
Besides the story, The Kentucky Cycle also has a lot of interesting possibilities for set design and other technical features.
“I am excited to see the mines explode, and the death of a few characters,” said Cavanagh.
This year, Highlands received a new technical director Ellie Fangman. This is her first show for Highlands.
Junior Shreya Vaghela said; “I liked her, she took the concerns of each crew member and negotiated and improved in each area, very open and involved in each crew.”
The Kentucky cycle has a lot of opportunities for set design. The goal of the set is to show the aging of the Rowen’s land as each generation changes it.
Vaghela shared, “We want it to progress throughout the acts, we will change how dirty it is to show the struggle the characters go through.”
The Kentucky Cycle opens November 2, 2023, and runs through the 6th, make sure to get your tickets at highlandstheater.com.