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Hilarious student performance entertains KPMS audience
By Erica Ma
Special to the
KP News
“Lights!”
The lights flickered on, throwing
the lavishly dressed cast in the scene of a luxuriant
dining room into spotlights.
“Camera!”
Michael Sly (above), JasminePaxton and Chelcia
Martin (below), some of the play's hilarious
characters. Photos courtesy Madison LaRose
and Jessica Kahler |
Everyone took a deep breath,
readying themselves for the big performance.
“Annnnnd action!”
Immediately the action began, and
“Asa Buckcannon,” a wealthy 65-year-old CEO of
Buckcannon Industries, proposed a toast to his equally
wealthy (though somewhat dim) family and friends.
“To good friends and relatives!”
Asa exclaimed.
“To good friends and relatives!”
the family toasted.
“To a great year!” Asa exuberantly
shouted.
“To a great year!” the family
toasted.
“To Buckcannon Industries!” Asa
called enthusiastically.
“To Buckcannon Industries!” the
family toasted.
“I don’t feel so good,” Asa said
and paused, looking slightly pale.
“I don’t feel so good!” the family
toasted.
“No, I’m serious!” Asa moaned, less
energetically now.
“No, I’m serious!” the family
toasted.
“I think I’ve been poisoned,” Asa
choked.
“I think I’ve been poisoned!” the
family toasted.
“I’m dying, you idiots!” Asa
bemoaned.
“I’m dying, you idiots!” the family
toasted.
After a few moments of overdramatic
staggering and stumbling, Asa fell down dead, his last
words being, “I’m dead!”
“Asa Buckcannon” is 13-year-old
Michael Sly, who portrayed this character with humor and
wit in Key Peninsula Middle School’s latest play, “Days
of our Nights.” With an additional twist, he also played
Casa, Asa’s identical twin sister. With an outrageous
wig and an even more absurd dress, Casa is literally Asa
in drag. “It seemed interesting to play the role of a
‘manly’ woman,” Sly said.
The play, staged for KPMS students
as well as the community in January, told the tale of a
befuddled group of ridiculously rich people celebrating
New Year on a yacht, as Asa Buckcannon, the “head
honcho” of the family, suddenly dies from poison. More
murders soon follow, and the already foolish family is
thrown into utter chaos and confusion. Just when things
couldn’t get worse, Asa’s somewhat inept bodyguard,
detective Palumbo, shows up on the scene, ready to solve
the case. Much to his dismay, the family scoffs at him,
suspicious of his minimal detective skills.
With a cast of Phoebe Buckcannon,
the tyrannical mother of Asa; Gena, who has a chip
implanted into her brain, which makes her extremely
bipolar; Greta, the long-lost relative who was raised in
the jungle; and of course, spoiled, gun-happy Sami
Brady, this show couldn’t get any funnier.
After an incident with the lead
actor in the performance, Lennon Chalk, a ninth grader
at Peninsula High School, was asked to fill in the lead.
He eagerly agreed, and set out to study the character of
Palumbo. Another ninth grader, Nick Markman, filled in
for another actor in the play. Lennon and Nick are
excellent actors, and have performed in previous Key
Peninsula plays. Despite the limited time, they did an
outstanding job of memorizing the lines, and performed
wonderfully, making “Days of Our Nights” one of the most
memorable plays KPMS has seen.
When asked about the play
afterwards, the cast unanimously agreed it was a huge
success, eliciting uproarious laughter from the
audience. Actor Tara Miller said, “It made them laugh a
lot. I’m just glad they didn’t throw vegetables at us.”
The teacher of the advanced drama
class, Jason McWhirter, highly praised the talent and
perseverance the class has shown. Although weather
conditions cancelled nearly all their dress rehearsals,
the students were unhindered and worked hard, bringing
an outstanding play to the school.
“Despite the weather problems and
cast problems, this class did an amazing job, and I was
proud to be a part of the production,” McWhirter said
proudly.
Erica Ma is a Key Peninsula
Middle School eighth-grade student.
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