FULCRUM
May 25, 26
June 22, 23, 25, 28,
July 1
2017
The Canyon Crest Academy Cast and Crew of Fulcrum:
Jenna Thurston, Anthony Balsano, Adam Sussman, Summer Newton, Emma Spencer, Alex Poplawsky, Safi Jafri, Zachary Sundstedt, Megan Chang, Austin Majeski, Sean Woytowitz, Phillip Magin, Sofia Gartland, Magenta Brown, Eevie Perez, Camryn Cox, Ryan Watts, Olivia Petty, Jake Goldfarb.
NOT PICTURED: Madi Rae DiPietro
Once Upon a Time in Carmel Valley…
There lived a society with over pressured teenagers, flawed adults with failed marriages, mental health issues, school shooting threats, and differing political views.
Sounds like a lot of topics to cover in a one hour show with seventeen different characters.
What I had experienced personally during my four years in High School was the beginning to what would be my most ambitious project (yet), the political and coming of age satire Fulcrum.
The Senior Thesis
I went to Canyon Crest Academy, where they had an after school Conservatory program called Envision. It encompassed different disciplines such as Vocal, Instrumental, Art, Humanities, and of course Theatre Conservatory.
I joined Theatre Conservatory my freshman year, and as part of my commitment for the entirety of my High School career I was promised a Senior Thesis.
Senior Thesis in my Theatre Conservatory was a BIG deal. You had clout with a Senior Thesis because you got to write, direct, and produce your own show. You wanted to be friends with the people that got Senior Thesis because then you’d be cast in a fun show that was independent from the main stage (no pun intended) productions.
I was inspired to write a play that reflected the experiences I had in High School, but also juxtaposing the aftermath of a school shooting with the election of Donald Trump and how different people thought about it. I wanted to make it funny, edgy, dark, and satirical.
In writing this, I had a draft done by early February. I originally wanted to call the show “Once Upon a Time In Carmel Valley” but I was not allowed to do this by the higher ups.
I changed the name to “Fulcrum” because it means a thing that plays a central or essential role in an activity, event, or situation.
In this case, the fulcrum of the story is Donald Trump being elected President and the aftermath of a school lockdown sending everyone in a panic.
The Canyon Crest Academy Production
The show premiered at Canyon Crest Academy May 25- 26 2017.
In the blackbox theater we shared with two other shows, we were used to the dynamics of how the space worked. We spent a large part of our High School careers in that space and knew how to move around it and make it our own.
Our shows were both sold out and had a very positive turn out, filled with laughter, gasps, shock, and even some tears.
After our hard work was done at school, it was time to revamp the show for the San Diego International Fringe Festival.
The Transition…
Moving our show from Canyon Crest Academy to the Lyceum Space Downtown proved to be tricky.
Not only did we have to hire replacement actors, re- rehearse key sections, re-teach choreography, but learn to adapt to a new space that none of us were 100% familiar with.
Although difficult, we powered through to present the public with our show.
The San Diego International Fringe Festival 2017
We opened to an audience of seven people at the San Diego International Fringe Festival on a Friday night.
I felt heartbroken.
But I reminded myself that we weren’t in school anymore. This was the real world now, and if we wanted people to show up we had to earn it, make them want to come support a huge group of young artists.
Our audience attendance rose drastically, and pretty soon we were averaging crowds of 120-150 people, which was a vast improvement for the attendance of Lady Windermere’$ FAM. With reviews from San Diego Story and San Diego Union Tribune, we had a show on our hands that defied expectations and proved young people can be master storytellers that engage audiences and continue conversations about the world. (Camryn Cox and Geoffrey Ulysses Geissinger)
