West Sound Academy takes art and science to the stage

SUQUAMISH — Combine all of West Sound Academy’s arts-based curriculum together, and one thing you might not expect is a lesson in chaos and complexity theory. But that’s exactly what you’ll get at the school’s annual Fine arts night, running this Friday and Saturday at the Bainbridge Playhouse. This year’s show, entitled, “Thing With No Name,” is written by West Sound’s Director of Art Studies Greg Macdonald and produced by teacher Anne Greenott.

“In a nutshell, if you could take a broad enough view of things, there’s nothing that would be out of balance,” Greenott said, describing how the show’s integration of school programs is similar to that of complexity theory.

Chaos theory fits in the play in terms of dealing with the idea of chance, especially, said MacDonald, when individual pieces are put together to complete a puzzle.

“As an artist, I find there are things that happen by magic,” he said.

Characters reflect names of the sciences as well. “Meta” and “Fore” have lead roles, as well as characters “1,” “2,” and “3.”

Ninth grader Corbin Lester, who plays “Trok” in the play, has enjoyed the opportunity to play such a unique character — an aging lizard on a curious search.

“He’s a lot like Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings,’” Lester said.

For Lester, the play is a coming together for the school.

“This is a really cool event because it combines dance, poetry and many different arts,” he said. “It’s more than just the drama class.”

Lester said the aspect of the play he enjoys most will not occur until Friday night.

“My favorite part of the acting process is right before a show,” he said. “You become a family and you’re 20 times as good as your last rehearsal.”

Ninth grader Kate Briggs will play “Black and White woman” in the upcoming performance. Briggs said she likes Macdonald’s script because it requires something more to perform it — brain power.

“I really like plays that make you think,” she said. “If you verge off for one moment, you’ll lose it.”

A few of the school’s students who are not typically involved on stage are its poets — but the play includes them as well.

“We decided we wanted to see how poetry and science interact,” said West Sound 11th grader Kyra West.

West, 10th grader Emilie Bernis and ninth grader Katie Kubiak are each getting the opportunity to display their poetry skills on stage.

“It’s only the second time in my life I’ve ever read my poetry on stage,” Bernis said. “It’s like pouring my heart out.”

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