Senior, B’Lynn Evans, shares her behind the scenes look into Hartfield’s Theatre Production: A Name for Rose.

On Saturday, November 6th, Hartfield performing arts will perform “Rewritten”, the theater class’s fall play. Each year, the class chooses a Shakespeare play and a Hartfield Student writes a modern adaption. This year’s production is written and directed by senior, B’Lynn Evans and all production decisions (set, costumes, lighting, etc.) are made as a class. Previous performances include Much Ado About Prom (Much Ado about Nothing), Merchants of Manhattan (Merchants of Venice), and Callahan (Julius Caeser). It is always a fun night to see our students shine!
 We love when students are willing to share and express their talents with their fellow students, faculty, and parents. This year, one specific senior is sharing her talents as the writer and director of this year’s fall play, Rewritten: A Name for Rose. B’Lynn Evans is a senior at Hartfield Academy and has been involved in Hartfield’s performing arts since her transfer in tenth grade. When she first enrolled, she was not involved in any theater class. She began to volunteer to work backstage and within that same year, B’Lynn was promoted to stage manager. Since then, B’Lynn has always enjoyed her roles with Hartfield’s performing arts.
 
Being a student writer and producer for an entire fall play requires a lot of hard work. When asked why she wanted to take on such a large role she answered, “My very first time acting as a stage manager was for the 2019 Rewritten, To Thine Own Self Be True. I knew then that I wanted to write a play when I became a senior. I have always had a love for writing and this was an opportunity for me to see my story come to life.” We are all excited to see her story come to life.
 
The only requirement Ms. Hatcliff, the director of fine arts, gives the students when deciding what to rewrite is that it must be a Shakespeare play. The imagination is left up to the students to become creative in the way they present his story. This year, A Name for Rose is taken from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but based on World War II. It will be a story focusing on a relationship between a Jew and a Natzi soldier. When asked where the new, created title came from, B’Lynn stated, “The main driving factor in A Name for a Rose is the fact that our male lead, Hans, has to unlearn everything he has been taught by his high esteemed Nazi family to truly understand what is happening to the Jews. Our leading female character’s name is Rose. So, it is called A Name for a Rose, because Hans is giving up his last name, his family, to help Rose escape from persecution from the Nazi party. It also tied back to the classic story of Romeo and Juliet by the line, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
 
B’Lynn and her classmates, along with Ms. Hatcliff, have worked diligently to have their performance ready for next Saturday. With the anticipation of the night slowly making its arrival, each student is eager to set the stage and perform the play that is always loved by so many. B’Lynn expressed the scene she was most looking forward to and why - “I personally love the ballroom scene. All the cast members are in this scene and we had so much fun picking out costumes for the masquerade. We also get to see a big moment in relationship development between our main characters.” This is a perfect example of how this theater performance brings our students together. I love the way B’Lynn answered her final question. She was asked what she was most looking forward to, she stated, “One of my favorite parts of theatre is watching the actors bring the characters to life. Because Rewritten is based on true events, it was very important to me that they took their characters seriously. The cast has done amazing with the script and with understanding their characters. Seeing the actors, and watching them portray the characters in their way, giving the character a voice and life is something that I’ll never get over.”
 
More than just a great performance, our students are able to come together creatively and work on something they are passionate about. We are all looking forward to seeing the ways each individual involved will shine!
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Hartfield Academy is fully accredited by both the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the MidSouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and the Southern Association of independent Schools (SAIS).