Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School To Stage Greek Myth Play

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School students are preparing to perform "Myth-Understood" on Friday, Nov. 13, with eighth graders Alexis Houston and Remi Lalor leading the production on stage and taking on leadership roles offstage.

The play will be performed at 6:30 p.m. in the middle school auditorium.

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Alexis and Remi, who play Bree and Jamie, said they see their parts as going beyond the script.

"We feel that we must be role models to everyone," Alexis and Remi, both 8th-grade students at the Middle School, said at a recent afternoon rehearsal in the school's auditorium.

"People are looking up to us, so we must be their role models," Remi added.

According to a summary from the Pioneer Drama website, the play, written by Jackie Martin, follows two teens working on a report about Greek mythology who are visited by Hermes and taken to Mount Olympus.

There, gods and goddesses retell their myths "in a more favorable light" as they try to persuade people to worship them again.

The production includes 49 students in the cast and 13 on-stage crew, according to the school.

The school said this is the first year the middle school has included sixth grade, and the added students have expanded participation in the drama club.

Olivia Matko, advisor of the middle school's Drama and Music Club and co-director of the play with Carla Fernandez, said the addition has helped rehearsals.

"I am so proud of the progress the cast and crew are making. Adding 6th Grade this year has really improved the Drama Club. The 6th Graders come in with so much energy and positivity and it is infectious," Matko revealed.

Matko also said the play's mythology theme has connected with many students in the cast.

"So many of our cast members have personal interests in Greek mythology, so it is super fun to let them be the experts and teach each other about their characters," Matko said. "They have all grown so much since the first day of rehearsals and I know they will continue to work hard until our final performance."

Among the students in featured roles are Zack DiGrazio as Hermes, Gabriel Vella as Zeus, Jocelyn Laine as Hera, Rishaan Deb as Hades, Alyssa Buitrago as Demeter and Micah Aliyah Cayanong as Persephone.

The production also includes student directors Connor Tobin and Lillian Sapp, stage managers Sophia Pellegrini and Olivia Semeniuk, and stage crew members including Nathaniel Azeri, Avani Chakradeo and Jaxon Giaimo.

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