What’s In Your Trunk?: Marymount Trunk Show

Courtesy of Luevo.com

Courtesy of Luevo.com

Caroline Hawley '19, Staff Writer

The house lights dim over the crowd in Cantwell Auditorium on a Friday evening; many await the beginning of this unique show. Carmen Voskuhl ‘17 makes her entrance and says, “Trunk Show: packed with one act plays.” This line has been rehearsed and rehearsed until it is perfect. In the weeks leading up to this moment, the buzz surrounding the show has been building up. What is a Trunk Show? How will it come together?

A Trunk Show is a small performance done by actors performed across the country. These actors keep everything in their trunks including costumes, props, and even more trunks! In the shows, trunks are used in various scenes to create a chair or table. Each scene changes the trunk as a prop.

The Marymount Players took ahold of this show and added their own flare to it. They took little plays, ranging from 1 minute to 10 minutes and turned them into a big production. The idea of this show was produced by the director, Claire Hackett. Hackett often chooses lesser known plays and makes it into something magical. People often claim that a Marymount Players Production is more professional than expected out of a high school show, which is exactly what the Players aim for. However, this is no easy feat: what you see on stage is the hard work of about 9 vigorous weeks.

There are many positions involved in the production. The actors could not perform without the essential groups known as the Production Assistants and the Stage Crew. These groups perform the hardest tasks and all in all, probably do more work than the actors. Audiences only see the finished product, but they don’t see the backstage crew who do various jobs from helping the actor do a quick change or making sure the lighting and sound is perfect. Production Assistants (PA) attend every rehearsal, rehearsing the lines with the actors over and over again until they could perform it themselves. They also run everywhere making sure props and actors are in place and ready to go.

One PA, Isabella Kiene, is familiar with the process as an actor from the musical last year, but this year, she decided to be a PA to see what their jobs are like. She says that, “in the beginning it was overwhelming but everyone was so nice that I really enjoyed it.” PA’s learn just as much as actors do. They learn to be great listeners and to be selfless. Crew also do a lot of the heavy lifting too, literally! The beautiful set scene was built from scraps and painted by the crew. They also often remind the actors where they are supposed to be and how long until that time. The show could not run without the crew and PAs!

Being a Marymount Player is special; it’s a community. Everyone becomes a family over those weeks leading up to the performances. The actors bond together and work together. If they didn’t, the show would be difficult to put on because the actors have to rely on each other.

Ultimately, this year’s show was amazing and came together really well. People came in not knowing what a Trunk Show was or what to expect. But when they left, they sure will remember the Trunk Show.