MLHS one-act thespians provided a voice for the homeless with ‘Blues’
THE CAST AND crew of Mountain Lake Public High School’s one-act play, “Blues,” by James McDonough. Front, from left, Liana Blomgren, Regan Syverson, Lydia Hildebrandt, Ben Grev, Caleb Rempel and Sam Grev. Back, from left, Eli Karschnik, Olivia Hopwood, Brook Sunderman, Ethan Karschnik, Carmen Syverson, Isaac Grev, Kenna Gardiner, Jareya Harder and Eric-John Niss de Jesus. (Julie Brugman photo)
“Blues” is an ensemble play about the lives of the homeless and less fortunate, written by Jerome McDonough. The production looks into the questions: Where do they (homeless) come from? Did they once have homes, like you and me? Have you ever thought what stands between you and life under a bridge in a cardboard box? Will you ever be one of them? It could never happen to you . . . could it?
The play takes place in a vacant lot, where street people sometimes gather. In the play, audiences are given the opportunity to glance into the lives of people living in the streets, including the man who robbed a store to be able to feed his family – and the child who ran away – among others.
“Blues” has been described as a “Handbook for the Future Homeless” – with people who have nowhere to go at bedtime showing what to do when you become homeless. These homeless include the long-term homeless, military veterans, the mentally ill, runaway and tossed-away teens, the newly hard-hit (and long-term) unemployed, single mothers (or fathers) and their children and immigrants.
Directors for “Blues”
Julie Brugman and Crystal Fast
Cast of “Blues”
Gino – Ben Grev
Tonya, Sharyn, Eleana – Lydia Hildebrandt
Father, Unemployment #2, Chano – Caleb Rempel
Dee, Unemployment #1, Lynne – Olivia Hopwood
Aggie, Social Worker, Juanita – Carmen Syverson
Ice, Hap – Ethan Karschnik
Nate, Ben, Zach – Sam Grev
Quinn, Ynez – Liana Blomgren
Evangelical Woman – Kenna Gardiner
Knife Woman – Brook Sunderman
Mark – Regan Syverson
Chip – Eli Karschnik
Homeless Person – Issac Grev
Crew for “Blues”
Lights – Jareya Harder
Sound – Eric-John Niss de Jesus
IN JEROME MCDONOUGH’S one-act play, “Blues,” the character Gino (Ben Grev), with foot on bench, acts as narrator – or tour guide, if you will – to the homeless, a life of poverty. He introduces and summarizes each vignette of the diversity of people living on the street that is presented. Above he is surrounded by some of those characters. They include actors Lydia Hildebrandt, front and back, from left, Isaac Grev as a disabled military veteran, Regan Syverson, Ben Grev as Gino and Liana Blomgren.
THE CHARACTERS ON the street are an eclectic group – each vying for their own space of the concrete. Above, Tonya (Lydia Hildebrandt), a lady of the night, front. laments the encroachment of the homeless on her working territory. At back are Sam Grev, seated left and Kenna Gardiner, seated center, portraying homeless characters.
SOMETIMES TONYA (LYDIA Hildebrandt), front left, even resorts to physical violence in order to rid her street corner of the homeless, including Sam Grev as a homeless young man, right. At back, Carmen Syverson, left and Brook Sunderman, right, portraying homeless on the street, pay no attention to the altercation as such an event is just a common, everyday occurrence to them.
SPENDING TIME HOMELESS on the street strips a person of their self-esteem and self-worth; they will survive by any means necessary. Sharing that story are actors Liana Blomgren, left and Carmen Syverson, right.
A WIDE-ANGLE view of the play’s stage setting, featuring the character, Gino, in the middle of his soliloquy on the nuances of the day-to-day stories of the homeless.
HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY are directly linked to unemployment, and daily trips to stand in the unemployment queue waiting for a possible job or payment brings forth many emotions – mainly negative. Liana Blomgren, at right, stands as the unemployment office manager, while the actors playing roles as unemployed in line are, from left, Eli Karschnik, Brook Sunderman, Caleb Rempel, Sam Grev and Olivia Hopwood.
AND, TOO OFTEN, the homeless can become desperate, panhandling – or even threatening with a weapon – in order to raise some cash or coin. At right, one of the homeless who has resorted to assault, actor Sam Grev, at right. Actress Liana Blomgren, at left, reacts with fear to the danger. However, in the end – like at the majority of times – the attacker ends up in jail.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF despondency over how life has treated him has led this homeless man, played by Ethan Karschnik, front left, to plan a store burglary – the black face mask in his hands – in order to provide for his “son,” with Eli Karschnik, back right, in that role.
AFTER MENTAL INSTITUTIONS were closed during the 1980s, the mentally ill were released – many ending up on the streets. Psychiatrists, such as the doctor portrayed by Lydia Hildebrandt, front, feel powerless to help those individuals. The actors playing the homeless in this photo are Regan Syverson, back and Brook Sunderman, right.
SOCIAL WORKERS, SUCH as the one brought to life onstage by Carmen Syverson, seated right, also have their plates full in keeping on top of cases; keeping them safe and well – and, hopefully heading off the streets into a place of their own because they have found a job.
HOMELESS SHELTERS DO provide a roof over the head and food in the stomach for those who live on the streets. But, there also can be a variety of “characters” that pass through their door. Above, Olivia Hopwood, right, as a homeless young woman, is overwhelmed by a knife-wielding homeless young woman, played by Brook Sunderman, left, as well as a proselytizing homeless woman, with Kenna Gardiner in that role, back.
THERE ARE THE long-term jobless that become long-term homeless, but then there are the “newbies” that were created by the “crash” in 2007. Above, one of those who lost his job, his benefits, his 401K, his pride – and now his family – is performed by Ethan Karschnik, right. He casts one long last look at his wife and son across the stage, portrayed by Olivia Hopwood and Eli Karschnik, upper left, as he, too, melts into the streets. Playing homeless women in this photo are Brook Sunderman, center left and Kenna Gardiner, center right.
DANGER CAN BE found everywhere – and anywhere – on the streets when one is too hungry, too tired and too alone. Actress Brook Sunderman, at left, plays the role of a homeless woman who came face-to-face with the dangers – and sadly learned that life is fleeting. Finding her is Sam Grev as another living on the streets.
SOMETIMES TEENS RUN away from home, hoping to leave their problems behind – and hoping for a better life ahead. The majority end up homeless. At other times, teens are thrown out of their homes for a variety of reasons. In most cases, they, too end upwith no place to call home. In either situation, the young men and women are vulnerable to the “mean” of the streets. Above, actor Caleb Rempel, front, portrays such a teen, sharing the narrative of his own personal situation. Depicting the daily status quo they know far too well are the homeless at back, with Brook Sunderman, left and Kenna Gardiner, playing those roles.
IMMIGRANTS, TOO, IN searching for a better life for themselves and their families, end up with no home in which to live in a land they do not know well. Above, as immigrants are actors, from left, Isaac Grev, Liana Blomgren and Caleb Rempel. (Julie Brugman photo)
IMMIGRANTS WANTING A better life often pay big money to a “coyote” who says he can quietly get them into the country. In the photo above, playing immigrants buying into the scam are, at left, from left, Sam Grev, Lydia Hildebrandt, Ethan Karschnik, Olivia Hopwood and Regan Syverson. At right, is “coyote” Ben Grev, locking them into the trailer of this truck, concealing them in order to drive them across the border.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE IMMIGRANTS are often unknowingly pawns in a get-rich scheme of the “coyote.” Once their money is collected, they are not always delivered across the border, but rather, left to die baking inside the metal trailer in the desert sun, or, in this case, fire is set to the truck. In a desperate effort, the immigrants, as played by, from left, Sam Grev, Ethan Karschnik, Lydia Hildebrandt, Regan Syverson and Olivia Hopwood, are able to bust open the door to the trailer and escape.
WAY TOO MANY of those who are homeless are children. In this photo, playing such roles are Eli Karschnik, left and Brook Sunderman, right.
SINGLE PARENTS CARING for their families – while homeless and looking for work – comprise a large group of those living on the streets. In this case, a single mother, with Carmen Syverson in the role, at right, considers leaving her three children, played by Eli Karschnik and Brook Sunderman, at left – as well as an infant – with a foster family, the mother of that family played by Kenna Gardiner, back.
WHILE IT IS difficult and heart-wrenching to leave her children behind in another’s caring hands, the single mother, played by Carmen Syverson, right, knows it is in her children’s best interests. At left, the children, portrayed by Eli Karschnik, left and Brook Sunderman, right, find a steadiness in life with another family. Kenna Gardiner, center, has the role as the children’s new caretaker.
HUNGER – AND THE daily beat to find something to eat – wears down both the self-worth and immune systems of the homeless. In the above photo, Sam Grev, left, in the role of a homeless young men, reacts with hunger pangs to a telephone call to a family with whom he had once lived as he reminisces about the meals he had eaten. At right, as a homeless person asleep in a makeshift “home” is actress Brook Sunderman.
AS THE PLAY comes to an end, Gino and homeless gather on stage to provide one last message.
CAST AND CREW of Mountain Lake Public High School’s one-act play entry into Saturday’s Sub-Section 9A One-Act Play Festival at Springfield, “Blues,” by Jerome McDonough. Front, Caleb Rempel. Second row, from left, Jareya Harder, Eric-John Niss de Jesus, Regan Syverson, Lydia Hildebrandt, Ben Grev, Kenna Gardiner and Sam Grev. Third row, from left, Isaac Grev, Eli Karschnik, Brook Sunderman, Liana Blomgren, Ethan Karschnik and Carmen Syverson. Back, Olivia Hopwood. The play is directed by Julie Brugman and Crystal Fast.
