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Place-Based Drama Production
Midland School Journeys Through Time
Students perform drama in the Midland School Hay Barn
Winter 2023
During MIDTerm, Midland students take a week off from their regular academic schedule to participate in an immersive, experiential learning project or adventure. In February 2023, we were able to invite Ashley Hanson of PlaceBase Productions to join us for the week, made possible by the generous gifts to the Hadden & O’Leary Midland Performing Arts Endowment.
A snippet from Ashley’s official bio, “Ashley Hanson, PlaceBase Productions Producer and Director, received her Master of Arts degree in Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester, UK, where she focused on the role of theatre in the sustainable development of communities. For the past ten years, she has facilitated, written and directed theater and arts-based programs with many different communities and organizations. Ashley’s work is focused on uniting individuals through exploring collective narratives in accessible performances.”
For MIDTerm, students were tasked with creating and performing an original play from scratch. The focus was on Midland’s past, present, and imagined future. To create the script, participants poured over newspaper articles, old Midland Mirror issues, interviews, and survey results. From here, they extrapolated fables and myths, hopes and dreams, and the potential narrative of a future Midland. A shout out to the students who took part in this amazing week: Gillian ’23, Kevin ’26, Mateo ’26, Brave ’24, Stella ’26, Jules ’26, River ’26, and Maddie ’24.
The cast performs a musical piece about a Day in the Life at Midland
The scene was set, as seemed appropriate, having the entire audience gather in front of Stillman porch. We were welcomed by the magical Midland Fates, speaking in verse and ushering in a drum song depicting a montage of a Day in the Life at Midland. The fast-paced music and the constant return to the refrain of Waitering – Eating – Dishhouse elicited giggles from the audience who could relate too well to this pattern. The fates spoke of a tale “of reverence and love, of learning and care,” before foreshadowing the involvement of founder Paul Squibb and his wife Louise in the scenes to come.
Students of the present gathered together, talking about the MIDTerms with anticipation. What made the play resonate with the audience was the lighthearted roast of Midland, such as the character Jones predicting that for MIDTerms, “I bet…we have to pick up the Main House and move it to the field just to pick it up and move it back to where it was to teach us some kind of lesson about life.” Hilarious fake assembly announcements about lost retainers and rejecting requests to wash clothes in Dishhouse had the audience in stiches.
Paul Squibb’s ghost shares about past Midland traditions
The play then meandered through time, splitting the audience into groups and heading off to various locations to conjure Paul Squibb’s ghost via Ouija board, speak with Louise Squibb by the library woodstove, sing songs in chapel, and meet a robot version of Squibb who can predict the future. Visions of Midland surviving and thriving after “the Great Flood,” even using its farm to feed neighboring communities, alluded to hope in spite of catastrophic changes. “Thanks to the sea level rise, the coastline is now only 5 miles down the valley!” quipped Robot Paul Squibb, while lamenting that Midland has yet to beat Dunn in hoverball.
Overall, The Midland Mirror was a powerful envisioning, giving voice to women of the past, before it was co-educational, and imagining how Midland’s values translate into an uncertain future, affected by the tides of history even when “the past and the future look kind of the same and that they just keep repeating themselves?” The cast left the audience with the final transition song:
I breathe in deep, I give a sigh,
I lift my gaze, and I wonder why,
They will not try, nor care to see,
Is there a difference between you and me?
The cast of The Midland Mirror play takes a bow
Props to Ellie Moore, Dean of Academics, for all of her involvement in making this happen and for playing a wise and witty Louise Squibb. All quotes from the original script, The Midland Mirror, February 2023.
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