Between cardboard cutouts and sketched background projections, Broken Box is finding its Yellow Brick Road down to their first show of the year, “The Wizard of Oz.” Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, Nov. 13 to 15.
“I wanted the audience to feel like they’re opening a good book and escaping the mundane disappointments of real life,” Broken Box director Lisa Battle said. “That’s how I think of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ — a magical journey.”
“The Wizard of Oz” follows Dorothy, played by senior Sophie Yung, as she gets swept away from Kansas by a tornado and transported to the magical land of Oz. She trails the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard of Oz, who is said to have the power to send her back home.
Based on the 1900 book by L. Frank Baum and with countless movie and film adaptations, Broken Box leans into the nostalgia of the original novel. For Battle, that’s the most important part.
“I grew up thinking that Oz is where magic is,” Battle said. “It’s probably one of my reasons why I love stories.”
From the original book, Battle recalled illustrations in between the pages that she wishes to bring to life through this performance.
“It has a dated, but really cool aesthetic I want to capture,” Battle said. “The books give you a feel of how we used to dream as kids, with magic.”
Tech crew took the first step to bringing Battle’s vision to life. The team of around ten Broken Box members spent two to three months building the stage, which includes prop pieces held by actors, and big set objects for the background.
Built fully of paper and cardboard to fulfill a “storybook” theme, the pieces demanded creative problem-solving and resourcefulness from the tech crew. They cut, glued and reinforced piles of cardboard and paper scraps into props stable enough to stand. Sometimes, prop pieces would be tested out by the cast and modified when they didn’t work onstage as planned.
“Every single day [involves] us in the back, working on stuff, painting stuff, cutting stuff and telling each other what to do,” junior Kat Smith said. “It’s organized chaos.”
Beyond stage pieces, Broken Box will use a projector for backdrops, all sketched by artists from the class, which they hope can create elaborate scenes without disrupting lighting or actors’ costumes.
But bringing Oz to the stage wasn’t an effort by Broken Box alone. The Wizard puppet — a large moving prop — was built in collaboration with Design and Fabrication students.
And while tech crew builds Oz, actors are also finding their footing in the show, moving beyond memorizing lines to embody their characters and capture Battle’s creative vision.
“In the book, Dorothy’s very young and less mature,” Sophie said. “Ms. Battle talked a lot about finding Dorothy’s inner strength, so I want to portray that growth.”
With tech “week” Monday and Wednesday before opening night, actors and tech crew come all together for full, performance-ready run-throughs. But before the curtains lift Thursday night, however, some special guests will preview the show earlier that morning: Almond and Santa Rita Elementary School students. It’s an annual tradition Broken Box started three years ago — and a way for them to run the show for a real audience.
“I told them to go big, honor these timeless characters and make it alive for the kids that are coming,” Battle said. Public performances begin 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 and run daily through Saturday, Nov. 15 in the Eagle Theater. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults, available online and at the door.
