Director's Corner: To Be Seen — Reflections on Fair Ophelia

The lights are down, and the scripts are closed, but some stories don't end when the house empties. Fair Ophelia reminded me that every time we take a chance on something new, we come out of it having learned more, grown more, and connected more deeply with each other.

A New Milestone

Fair Ophelia marked another first for us: Inspiration's Edge's very first staged reading. Our actors performed with scripts in hand, with no set and no costumes. Instead, we invited our audiences to lean into the words and into their own imaginations.

We didn't leave them in the dark, though. Lighting and sound created the world of the play. Shifting light moved us from room to room and mood to mood, and sound wrapped the audience in the atmosphere of the story and gave weight to its quietest moments. It asked for more listening and more faith that the words of the story, and the actors speaking them, were enough.

They were.

Keeping the Community in Community Theatre

At Inspiration's Edge, we always want to keep the community in community theatre, and Fair Ophelia embodied that in so many ways.

It's an original work by Anna Pollnow, a graduate of 29 Palms High School, someone who grew up right here in the Hi-Desert. Performing a non-profesional script took trust. There was no past production to study and no reviews to reassure us, only the story and our belief that a local voice deserved a local stage. Thank you, Anna, for trusting us with your play's first production.

Our cast was a true reflection of our community, too. Some of our performers brought decades of stage experience; others stepped onstage for the very first time. Most came in knowing nothing about this script. What they did know was Inspiration's Edge, and that was enough for them to say, "I don't know what this is yet, but I want to be part of it." That kind of faith is humbling.

On opening night, I also acknowledged something I believe deeply: many of us, cast, crew, and audience alike, are navigating things others don't always see. And yet all of us still chose to show up, for ourselves and for each other. My hope was that, for those 80 minutes, everyone could set down whatever they carried in and simply join us in the story.

Because that is what community, and theatre, is for.

Why Ophelia

History has not been kind to Ophelia. For four centuries she has been remembered as a footnote to someone else's tragedy: obedient, overlooked, and finally undone. Anna's script asks the question I've carried with me for much of my life: what happens when a woman refuses to be the story others have written for her?

Ophelia lives in a world built by men and ruled by their ambitions. Everyone around her wants something from her, and most would gladly trade her truth for their own comfort. Her courage isn't in becoming ruthless to survive, but in holding to who she is while finding the strength to choose her own path. The tension between succeeding in a world not made for you, and staying true to your values while doing so, is one many women know intimately.

I certainly do.

This weekend, Ophelia finally got to speak for herself, and I believe she may have spoken for many women.

An Ensemble in Every Sense

To my cast: you are a true ensemble. Roles shifted along the way, actors stepped into new parts on short notice, and some took on double duty. Every time, you met it with generosity.

To Jillian Hines, thank you for being the other half of the production team; I had so much fun designing lighting with you and sharing the tech table during the performances.

To our crew and volunteers, and everyone who showed up for tech week, performances, and strike: let me remind you again that we could never do any of this without all of you being willing to be a part of Inspiration's Edge.

The Best Part of the Night

My favorite moment of this production didn't happen on stage.

After opening night, our audience stayed for almost 45 minutes to talk about the show with our cast and production team. They asked questions, shared what moved them, and discussed their favorite moments of the performance. Watching that room stay full long after the final bow was one of the proudest moments I've had as a director.

That is what community theatre is about. Not just theatre performed for a community, but theatre that reflects it: written by one of our own, brought to life by our neighbors, and finished in conversation with the people who came to see it.

That's the kind of theatre I want to keep creating: the kind where everyone, onstage and off, gets to be a part of the conversation. ~ Liyan McNeltier