This week marks the first performance for Theatre on the Blue, a new nonprofit theatre company created by Heather Capece, the drama program coordinator for the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School.
The show is a re-imagining of Little Women and runs Thursday through Saturday at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
When visiting Scotland and being a part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with charter school students, Ms. Capece was inspired by the diverse range of performance arts there and wanted to try her hand at it.
“Going to Fringe and meeting all those directors just sparked my interest. I thought, oh wait, maybe I can do this too,” Ms. Capece said.
For help with the first show, she turned to someone close by: her 17-year-old daughter Nicola (Koko). The mother-daughter duo are co-directors of the show, with Koko writing the adaptation. The two have worked together on previous productions at the charter school.
“I approached Koko about the play she wrote and eventually she agreed,” Ms. Capece said about the partnership. “It was all her vision.”
A rising senior at the charter school, Koko has been in numerous theatre productions throughout the years. In 2023, she co-directed the school play Almost, Maine.
Since the Little Women novel is public domain, Koko was able to create her own spin on the story. When writing the adaptation of Little Women, Koko said she wanted to go big or go home.
“Might as well think like a Broadway director,” she said. “So I wrote everything, nothing’s holding me back.”
One part Koko is especially excited about is an improv scene that she and Beau Athearn perform. A different version will be portrayed every night with a shadow show taking place behind the actors.
“It’s like a game,” Koko said. “It’s become so much fun. The shadow puppeteers have to improv at the same time, and it’s intriguing to the audience.”
Jane Chandler at the Beach House lent the actors some time-appropriate costumes.
Despite working together on previous school plays, this will be the first time the Capeces have created something outside the school’s boundaries.
“The story is so relevant, being about womanhood, I’m hoping people find it as intriguing as we do because the cast has gotten really into it,” Koko said.
Ms. Capece said she is looking forward to helping young actors on the Island grown and learn. She wants Theatre in the Blue to help feed a love of theatre.
“Part of what I wanted to do with this company is help young teens be a part of these productions,” she said. “If they want to do any part of what makes these plays happen, I want to try it out and see what they’ve got.”
After seeing the theater, set, actors, and costumes, the excitement is palpable. Koko and her fellow actors have spent a lot of time perfecting this play. While she hopes for an enthusiastic audience, the dedication and love for the art are what make the experience that much more rewarding.
“You get as much as you put in,” said Koko.
The adaptation of Little Women will be shown at the Katherine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven, June 26 and 27 at 7 p.m., and June 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
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