First-year faculty member and new Director of the Black Box Theatre Rachel Klem is beyond proud and excited to present Edmonds College with its first theater production since 2019.
This year’s spring musical is called Firebringer, from Team Starkid. Klem said that she expects audiences will enjoy the production.
“Firebringer is a very joyful play, so there is a lot of laughter and silliness,” she said. “It’s set in the Stone Age; I always say it’s the untrue story of how fire was discovered. It’s told with a modern sensibility, so it has a very tongue-in-cheek look at that period of time where humans were discovering everything.”
Klem also strikes a parallel between Firebringer, and the community of the campus, “This play is really about community, which is so relevant because here at Edmonds College, we are building a brand new community. Since we haven’t done a play since 2019, we’re just relearning about the community of theater here.”
The whole cast and crew have worked hard since the beginning of spring quarter to put the production together, Klem said, adding that it has been a true team effort.
“We have 12 cast members, one is a community member, and another is a staff member, but everybody else is a student,” she said “Altogether, there are about 25 of us working on it plus staff, and a few guest artists to help out. We have someone doing puppets, and another came in to teach stage choreography.”
The shows will also feature a pit band to the left of the stage, bringing live music to the mix.
Klem praised the cast and crew for their collaboration in putting the play together.
“I am extraordinarily proud, as someone who has directed a lot of plays, what stands out for me is the amount of creativity and belonging that has happened,” she said. “This is a play where the characters are in a tribe, and I feel like we have really built a tribe here, it’s not just about putting on a play, but about being part of a team, and the effort that goes into that.”
Edmonds College can look forward to more shows and productions in the Black Box Theatre, Klem said. “Our first goal is to do a winter play, along with the musical in the spring.”
The vision, she said, is to have student-led projects in the winter quarter so students can present their own work, and then produce a musical in the spring.
“In the winter quarter next year, I am hoping that the drama club will put together a short play festival, something they can get behind,” she said.
Much of Klem’s directing career has been in North Carolina where she worked for the theater program at NC State for 15 years. However, she has now made Edmonds her new home and loves the community and what the campus offers.
Klem encourages students to get involved and take advantage of the top-rate facilities on the Edmonds campus.
“This is a fancy theater, it’s only 15 years old,” she said. “I kind of feel like it’s a race car, that is just sitting in the driveway and we need to get it out on the road and use it to its fullest. It’s a really technical theater, so it has a lot of opportunity not only for performers but students as well.”
Firebringer will be shown at the Black Box Theatre May 16, and 17 at 7:30 p.m. and on the weekend, May 18, and 19, at 2 p.m.
Tickets for this weeks shows can be purchased either online, or at the doors.
