HHS Students Present Pygmalion

The story of Henry Higgons and Eliza Doolittle will come to life this weekend at Harrison High School as the Harrison High School Troop of Traveling Performers present "Pygmalion".

Ivan Lovjer will take the stage as Higgons, a phonetics professor who wagers he can pass off flower girl Eliza Doolittle (played by Eva Mangone) as a dutchess at an ambassador's garden party.

The play was selected and directed by Harrison senior Rachel Kaplan, who has worked with the cast for six weeks to prepare for this weekend's performances. Kaplan has performed in school plays in the past and jumped at the chance to direct a spring performance as a student, a tradition for spring performances in Harrison.

"It's been stressful," she said. "But it's been a really great experience, getting to choose the set and the costumes and helping with the lighting and sound design is really fun."

Since the play is done entirely in an Enligh accent, performers needed to not only memorize lines, stage placement and other on-stage interactions, they needed to learn a completely new dialect in the short six-week rehearsal period. It has forced the actors to work extra hard during the busiest stretch of the school year.

"With this kind of show you have to do your homework, you have to practice your accent at home, you have to learn your lines at home," said Mangone (Eliza Doolittle). "You can't just pick everything up in just rehearsal."

The performance will take place in the Sirius Black Box Theater and includes a small cast of only 14, bringing a completely different feel than the main stage performances at Harrison High School. The theater seats only about half a dozen rows of seats, giving the audience and actors a more inclusive experience.

"I'm expecting a lot more personal connection with the audience," said Lovjer (Henry Higgons). "When you are on the main stage it's different, you don't really feel the audience or hear them."

Although not a musical, "Pygmalion" will offer it's share of satire. The play itself achieves humor through dialogue, without the use of slap-stick humor. It's a challenging script, but this group of performers appears ready to hit the stage this weekend.

"I knew that we had the acting skill to do it," Kaplan said. "It's been going pretty well and I'm very proud of everyone in the cast."

Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. with a matinee performance on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Tickets to Pygmalion are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.  Reservations are strongly suggested. Tickets can be reserved by calling (914) 630-3110 or by email to mansfieldn@harrisoncsd.org.  Tickets will also be available at the door.