Every Pirandello Players production has a packed, albeit intense, schedule. For the first month or so after auditions, rehearsals take place every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after school until 5 p.m. in the choir room. The frequency of rehearsals slowly increases to include Monday and Friday through the end of December. That is when the Players transition onto the actual stage and translate motivations, actions, and blocking onto a much larger plane. (“Blocking” is the official term for the actors’ positions on stage, and where they move or what they interact with during the scene.) The stage crew also begins to come in regularly, moving backdrops and props like dining tables and even fake walls. These pieces are called sets, changing from scene to scene, in and out of the “wings” or side curtains.
Then, the calendar begins to shift.
When show month comes around in January, the Players do not start their run-through of the show until 4 p.m., meaning oftentimes their rehearsals can last until 9 or 10 p.m. While Murder on the 518 is only about 1 hour and 20 minutes (as opposed to Puffs, the roughly 2 hours long play Pirandello performed last year), almost every practice of the show involves stopping to fix blocking, the movement or arrangement of set pieces, and timing cues for both the actors and the crew working in the lighting and sound booth.
As of today, the Players have just finished blocking the full show, and are beginning to run act one and two. At our most recent rehearsal, we started right on time at 2:45 p.m. after hauling chairs and tables from all around the first-floor D-hall hallway and music rooms. Since the show is mostly in the dining car of a train, each of the 16 travelers have their own water glasses filled with actual liquid, which was a new addition. From now on, the glasses must be cleaned at the beginning of every rehearsal by the crew.
Since the rehearsals are still in the choir room, the far edges of the U-shaped steps of D104 act as the wings where cast members wait and look over lines of dialogue in between their entrances. The directors sit at the back of the room, taking notes and watching every detail from an elevated position.
Mrs. Rebbeca Bufis, the art teacher and creative director of Pirandello, said, “Today, we aren’t on stage yet. So, I can’t build stuff, but when you see me with my computer that means I was designing all of the stuff that I can do without being onstage. Right now, I have the T-shirts designed, the brochures, the flyers, the tickets; anything electronic that if I can’t get on stage, I’m doing that, like signs for the concessions, researching, ‘Oh we need a prop, where can we get that?’… So, I try to keep busy even though we can’t physically be on the stage.”
One aspect all of the Players are working on is being overly animated with their gestures and expressions, because doing large gestures and using your space is crucial to a visually exciting production. Mrs. Jillian Trader, the director and theater teacher at SBHS, sometimes calls out for the actors to “project!” or “hit the back wall.” This is a reference to a Pirandello show from 2019, Taming Romeo. That was the first show Mrs. Trader, Mrs. Bufis, and Mr. Aldo Aranzula, the choir teacher and co-director of Pirandello, collaborated on together. The phrase calls back to a character’s line from that production to prompt the cast to use their diaphragmatic breathing techniques, or breathing deeply through your stomach and sustaining that breath, to carry your voice louder and farther throughout the auditorium and fill the entire space. Since there are a limited amount of mics for the cast, it is crucial that every character is able to project enough to be heard clearly by all audience members.
On the directors’ side, rehearsals include a multitude of behind-the-scenes orders, designs, and notes. Mrs. Bufis said, “I take care of designing the sets, helping to coordinate and build the sets with the builder that we have, and getting kids to help do the painting of the sets. I work with Trader closely to pick out costumes and design the logos for the shows; any posters, tickets, T-shirts, if we need a prop made, anything of that effect is what I organize, with either the students or myself making it. Anything on that creative side, really. I always joke that I can make everything look ugly or pretty, depending on what kind of show we are working on.”
A lot of time and attention goes into what the actors wear. Anyone watching a show would notice if the costumes did not match the time period of the show, or if a character was wearing the wrong color necklace when another character specifically mentions its hue. Especially for Murder on the 518, when the actors rarely leave the stage, the way each character chooses to dress can say a lot about them. As Mrs. Bufis said, “Even if I felt like a color represented a character, or just a mood, I took note of it. Watching you guys [rehearse] actually really helped me… I’m observing from the outside and seeing what everyone is bringing to their characters, their personality, and what they think of the character as well.”
A Pirandello tradition-in-the-making also helped Mrs. Bufis find costume inspiration. Earlier in November, instead of setting right up for the top of the show, the Players sat in a circle with containers of different shapes and sizes, varying from shopping bags to guitar cases. These are their character bags.
Thankfully, the 518 train is set in modern day, although that does not limit the vast amounts of costumes needed to create the right range of characters. From cheesy honeymooners on their way to Disneyland, to a classic trench-coat wearing private investigator, there are a lot of little clothing pieces and props to find.
When asked about the purpose of these bags, Emma Sava (‘26), who plays a pharmaceutical assistant named Jillian Hill, said “I would say [it’s] something that really helps describe your character, and helps you figure out who you’re playing; what their motive is and how to portray that character.”
In each of these bags, the Players gathered items to represent their character’s deepest wish, prized memento, favorite hobby, fear, and secret. For some characters, their dialogue in the script gives clues as to what would fit these categories. But for others, they often have to create a backstory, and sometimes a name, with their own imaginations. Then, everyone must take what they have learned from the exercise and display those characteristics through their acting speech and body language on stage. “For me, I chose a Disney bag cause [when we shared out] I said that [Jillian’s] first time traveling with Salt Lake pharmaceuticals was with her boss to Disney World, so it’s a memento that she keeps with her,” said Sava.
All of these rehearsals, compounded over months, result in production everyone can truly be proud of. “It really pays off in the end,” Sava said, “because everyone gets to see how hard we’ve worked over the past four to five months, and we all become a family. I think that’s really what Pirandello’s all about, is becoming a family. I also just love that we bring people joy from performing!”
Be sure to attend Pirandello’s performances on January 22 and 23 at 6:30 P.M., as well the 24 at 1 P.M. and 6:30 P.M., to help support the arts at SBHS!
