FORT SMITH — Retired Southside High School drama teacher JoAnn Elsken barely had time to enjoy trading in her director’s chair for a recliner when she received a call from Trinity Junior High School principal Dr. Jim Hattabaugh.
He told her that science teacher Robin Bryan had sponsored Trinity’s first drama club last year and brought the students to the point where they could really benefit from her 20 years of teaching acting, directing and technical theater skills on the secondary level.
She not only said “yes,” but also brought her husband, retired Mansfield High School social studies teacher Mike Elsken, to co-sponsor the Trinity Junior High Drama Club.
“You don’t realize when you retire how much you will miss doing what has defined your life for so many years,” JoAnn Elsken said. “And Mike, who often felt like a widower because of the long hours I kept, now understands how much fun it is.”
The Elskens, who attend St. Boniface Church, moved to Fort Smith from New Orleans, where they had taught in the Catholic school system, in 1981.
“Our daughter attended Immaculate Conception Junior High School, which eventually became Trinity Junior High,” Mrs. Elsken said.
The club performed its fall drama — a 20-minute adaptation of “The Romancers” by Edmond Rostand — for parents and guests at “A Taste of Trinity”; for students at Christ the King and Immaculate Conception schools; and at a Dec. 2 evening performance in St. Boniface School’s auditorium.
“We will probably use St. Boniface as our performance base,” she said.
In addition to acting, students served as producer, director, technical director, props master, sound effects technician and crew. With help from parents and grandparents, they built sets and made costumes. Although some of the students have performed in local youth theater groups, few have had the opportunity to participate in production and direction.
For eighth-grader Apolo Castillo, who played Bergamin and, who, with eighth-grader Claire Hollenbeck, shared producing and directing responsibilities, working with the Elskens is an opportunity to be mentored in every aspect of theater.
Last year, as a seventh grader, Castillo wrote a faith-based play, “All Because of Him,” which was produced by the Drama Club.
“Apolo wrote the play, directed it, acted as narrator and took on an additional role when an actor dropped out at the last minute,” Hollenbeck said.
The club is planning to perform its first Shakespearean play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” in April. It will have many more speaking roles than “The Romancers,” the play on which the long-running musical “The Fantasticks,” is based. Having seen what these junior high students are capable of doing and the parental support they’ve enjoyed, the co-sponsors are confident they will be able to handle the artistic and theatrical challenges of Shakespearean comedy.
They hope to produce a musical in the 2014-2015 school year, with live musical accompaniment from the Trinity band.
“There’s a nice big area for musicians in front of the stage at the St. Boniface auditorium,” Mrs. Elsken said.
A spring musical would give band students an event to prepare for after the fall marching season is over.
The audience at the Dec. 2 performance gave the cast and crew rave reviews.
“The cast did a great job. The costumes and set design were outstanding,” said Sister Kimberly Prohaska, OSB, who attended with Sisters Adrian Wewers and Rosalie Ruesewald. “The students showcased talents of seasoned performers with use of comedy and affection for classic tales of family and young love.”
