Senior and playwright Emily Eberhart dazzles audience

BY STAFF REPORTS

      Senior Emily Eberhart’s play, “Die Geborgenheit,” was performed for the school on Dec. 9 in the Burgoin Auditorium. Emily began writing her play last winter, finishing it in time to include it in the Maine Playwrights’ Festival in May. 
      Emily says she received input from a select group of students while she was writing it, and had the drama director, Mr. Rick Osann, give input after it was finished. After the positive reception from the audience and from three judges at the Playwrights’ Festival, however, the cast (students from Bonny Eagle’s drama club), decided they wanted to bring the play back to the school once again. This time, the unabridged version was performed on Dec. 9 for anyone who wanted to attend, while the shortened version was performed for the school the same day during 5th block. 
      This time around, the performance was more polished—actors memorized their lines instead of reading from a script, and the play included lights and sound effects. The set itself was minimal with a few furniture pieces, but the play was far from minimal. 
      The German title, “Die Geborgenheit,” is a word that doesn’t have a direct translation in English; the closest translation would be “the security or comfort you receive from someone else”—a theme that
centers around the story of the two main characters, Bo and Sylvia.

It follows their relationship and how it seems to dissipate over time. 
      The cast was excited to be a part of the experience and were happy to encourage Emily and her playwriting. Marisa Pierce stated that they love the show a lot and believe it deserves to be seen by a larger audience. So far, Marisa says that her experience working on a student-written play has been all positive because she loves the people she’s working with, and thinks the play is beautifully written. She also said that the entire cast was surprised by how much they each related to their character, and that the characteristics they don’t share with their characters makes it more fun for them to play with. 
      Christopher Hascall, who plays the other lead role of Bo, said that “it’s surprisingly intense and mature for a play written by a high schooler.” He hopes that they were able to make people feel real emotion, and to show what can happen when people are willing to sit down and write like Emily did. 
      Marisa agreed with Christopher and believes that the show is “an emotional rollercoaster,” but that it is “incredible to watch and be a part of.”