ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Navigating one’s love life can often feel like a neverending wheel of good and bad, and three couples will discover that in the Liberal High School Drama Department’s next production.
The LHS Drama Department will be performing the play “Marriage Wheel” by Joel Climenhaga at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 and 15, and at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 16. All performances will be in James W. Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School, and tickets are $3 each for both children and adults. The play tells the story of three couples in the 1830s and their romantic lives and how they must navigate family histories and personality conflicts to forge their own destinies.
Director Miriam Climenhaga said she is excited for the production.
“It's a smaller show and smaller cast, which is somewhat unusual for us, but it's been really great. I'm really excited to be able to do this play because it was written by my father and published by the Samuel French company back in the 1960s, and it's one of the few plays of his I've actually seen performed before,” Climenhaga said. “He passed away in November 2000, so this year marks 25 years since that happened, and it's been a really long time since I've heard about this play being produced. My father actually was awarded for this play way back then, so it's really close to my heart. The students loved it when they read it, they thought it was really funny and loved the bits of action involved, and it's just a very sweet comedy.”
Climenhaga said the play is rather near and dear to her heart.
“Since this play was written by my father, I've considered producing it before, but the timing and other circumstances – like the number of Drama students I have, the interest level, etc. – simply didn't really allow for it until now,” Climenhaga said. “The play ended up being a good option because of the number of Drama students I have and because we flipped doing the musical until the spring. I wanted to find something smaller, and I have wanted to do this play at least once in my directing career since it's near and dear to my heart. I'm lucky to be able to produce it, and I'm glad I'm able to share it with my students since it's something from my father. And this year marks 25 years since he passed away, and I feel like producing something he wrote is a great way to honor him.”
Putting the show together has been a great time, Climenhaga said.
“I feel like everyone's come together and created a great team. Everyone gets along really well and has great chemistry, and there's been lots of laughter during rehearsals, so it's been a great time bringing everything together,” Climenhaga said. “The play also has rather minimal technical requirements, everything takes place in one room, so there's no need for extra fancy lighting or anything too arduous in that regard. One of my students, Emmalee Ward, also came in and helped choreograph the fight scene, and I think that turned out really well, and we've had a few other faculty members help with props and costumes and some of that stuff. Everyone's come together really well to help the show come together, and I've been really pleased. Everyone's really excited, but there are always some nerves around this time because everyone's finishing smoothing out their blocking and really locking in their lines and everything else. But I appreciate these students so much because they've put in so much work and are doing such a great job putting this show together. We are having fun working on it together, and I have high expectations that lines will be learned, and that they will continue to support each other and bring another great live theatre event to the community of Liberal. It's always great seeing everything fully come together. It can be a stressful process for everyone, but every day brings something new and you never know what's going to happen.”
Climenhaga added she hopes to see many people in the community turn out for the production that weekend.
“It's a great play, and I think it's one everyone will enjoy both young and old. I was a little worried at first because the play takes place in such a different time, which means there's different language used and different customs talked about,” Climenhaga said. “But after the first read-through, the students got a really good kick out of it, so I think everyone will enjoy it. The themes are all pretty universal and it's easy to keep up with, and it's a show everyone should be able to enjoy.”
And for those who can’t make it to the show, Climenhaga said there are multiple other ways people can support the LHS Drama students.
“If you want make a donation of some type, money is always helpful, but we could also take donations of costumes and other items. With that, however, I would encourage people to call the high school and talk to me before officially donating those things so we can make sure it's okay to actually accept it,” Climenhaga said. “If people want to help us out, just get in touch with me at
Overall, Climenhaga said, it should be a great show.
“We will also have a food drive that weekend and accepting donations of non-perishable food items for local food banks,” Climenhaga said. “We will have a collection area just outside the auditorium and people can bring donations with them that weekend, and if anyone has any questions about what can be donated, they are more than welcome to get in touch with me. It's going to be a great play, and it's a great one to come and see shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday.”
