Wittenberg Theater and Dance performed its first play of the spring semester, “Dry Land,” this past weekend.
“Dry Land” was written by Ruby Rae Spiegel and directed by Juile Locker. The play is staged at a high school in Florida focusing on two main characters: Ester, played by senior Caitlin Cahoon, and Amy, played by sophomore Brittany Shelton-Dooley. Both Amy and Ester are swimmers.
“Dry Land” is a coming-of-age story with the subplot dealing with development of friendship and confidentiality. The plot of “Dry Land” is about Amy, who gets pregnant, and wants to have an abortion. Esther is worried about her friend while attempting to perform well when swimming for the Florida State coaching staff. Throughout the play, Amy succumbed to her insecurities by opening up to Esther.
“Dry Land” ends with Esther, being accepted into Florida State with a scholarship to swim, leaving in tears. That is the moment Amy realizes that Esther is her only true friend.
The director wanted the audience to feel vulnerable and uncomfortable by allowing controversial jokes.
Overall, “Dry Land” was an outstanding play performed by excellent actors. After the play, some members of the cast were selected to participate in a talkback to answer questions from the audience. During the talkback, each cast member mentioned that they had to do some form of research to further understand the mindset and emotions of their characters to make them more relatable. The audience showed its appreciation to the cast with a standing ovation.
