By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Mary Reed was in awe the first time she saw her completed one-act play performed on stage.

“I almost couldn’t believe it was actually happening until the lights went off and everyone clapped,” said the Thornton Academy senior of her play, “I Heard You Could Fly.”

The nine-member cast will perform the dramatic play this week at the Class A state finals of the Maine Drama Festival at Camden Hills Regional High School. The school placed first in the March 5 and 6 regional festival at Thornton Academy in Saco.

This is the first time Thornton Academy has advanced to the state finals since 1995.

Reed, who wrote and directed the 25-minute play, began work on the piece last fall at the suggestion of drama teacher David Hanright. Thornton’s play is one of three student-written productions in their division this year.

“I Heard You Could Fly” features five wives who lost their husbands during the Oklahoma City bombing. The women meet for breakfast each week and vignettes shed light on how they deal with the grieving process, Reed said.

Reed, 17, said she has enjoyed writing since elementary school but had never attempted to write a play until this school year. The first draft she brought in to Hanright was five pages and took about five minutes to act out, she said.

After handpicking the cast – a mix of experienced and newer actors – Reed continued to add to the script, finally wrapping up the week before their first performance.

“It was a couple lines here, a couple lines there,” she said. “If something didn’t sound natural, (the cast) would say ‘that sounds awkward.’ We’d tweak it to make it sound more realistic. I wanted it to be truthful and natural.”

Reed said the cast performed well at the regional competition, but she was surprised when judges told her they liked the play. She was awarded the best student director award and an all-festival cast award for her portrayal of Ruth.

“Yes, we all had confidence in it, but it really sank in during the performance that we could do this,” she said. “When they said we won, everyone jumped and danced on stage. I could not fathom it.”

Reed said she wanted to keep the production simple; the set features little more than a single piece of furniture. A small cast allows the audience to connect with the characters, she said.

“We wanted to make the audience feel something and we accomplished that,” she said.

For senior Emily Puleio, there was plenty of emotion to feel on stage. She won an all-festival cast award for her portrayal of Kim, a “slightly delusional” widow who had a perfect life before her husband’s death. Throughout the play she imagines what her life would have been like if her husband hadn’t died.

“It’s really emotional. I start sobbing on stage,” she said.

Puleio, 17, said she thinks of emotional experiences in her own life to conjure up tears on stage. Before going on stage, she sings a song played at her grandfather’s funeral that “instantly makes me cry.”

Both Reed and Puleio said they look forward to each festival because they watch other student productions and meet students from other schools.

“I want to be able to learn from them,” Puleio said.

Hanright said he is looking forward to watching the cast perform again after they “knocked me out” at the regional festival. The entire cast is “gifted” and accomplished their goal of delivering quality acting to their audience, he said.

“We don’t spend a lot of time on the razzle-dazzle of a huge production,” he said. “We focus on developing characters and delivering acting. That’s really what’s important to them.”

Hanright said he is impressed by how cordial and professional his students are during the festivals. They work well together as a cast and trust each other on stage, he said.

“The cast didn’t always get along that well, but when they got on stage they were an ensemble,” he said. “They were so solid together, especially the five girls. When they were on stage they were a force to be reckoned with.”

Other cast and crew members include Hal St. Louis-Farrelly, Emily Galos, Nick Allen, Virginia Hudak, Clay Luopa, Bekah Giacomantonio, Christian Letourneau, Paige Meserve, Ashley St. Amand and Gordon Renell.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.