MCHS to host Hiroshima play

Madison County High School students, front, from left, Brittany Woodward, Molly Brumfield, Ginnie Busick; middle, same order, Ashley Carpenter, Kyla Titman, Kayla Compton, Nikki Kemp, Kiersten Gausman, Mary Margaret Petersen, Brianna Beere, Rondell Orange; and back, same order, Brandon Hartman, Maggie Anderson, Toni Ann Gambale and Chris Klein star in “A Thousand Cranes."

By Special to The Eagle
Published: November 07, 2008

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Lights fade in on the still tableau of students dressed in black and faces covered with white masks. The music fades in and the students gently come to life discovering their devastated “lives” in what remains of the bombed Hiroshima.

Madison County High School’s show of “A Thousand Cranes” explores life in Hiroshima, Japan, through the eyes of Sadako, a 12-year-old runner, and Kenji, her best friend and running companion, 10 years after the atomic bomb fell upon the city.

The MCHS production of “A Thousand Cranes,” under the direction of Donald Hitt, represented the school in the Virginia High School League Bull Run District Theatre competition where it placed first winning the championship and the right to move on to regional competition.

The show received praise from the critic judges for its sophisticated movement and highly stylistic staging. One of the judges, a managing director from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., praised the group’s control of movement in the opening tableau and especially Maggie Anderson’s ability to play the young Sadako.

Two actors from Madison’s production were recognized and named to the All-District Team of All-Star Actors and Actresses – Maggie Anderson for her role as Sadako and Nikki Kemp for her role as the mother.

Madison’s production moves on to regional competition at William Campbell High School on Nov. 15 with Madison’s show at noon.

A special performance of “A Thousand Cranes” is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the MCHS auditorium. The performance is free, but a donation bowl will be set up in the lobby for those who wish to donate to the high school program.