This October, Fenwick’s BlackFriars Theatre Guild brought the production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving to life. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is based on an old European folk tale about two men, Ichabod Crane, played by Andrew Nguyen ‘25, and Brom Bones, played by Troy Makani ‘24, fighting over Katrina Van Tassel, played by Rowan Auriemma ‘24. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was produced into a play by Vera Morris, and BFG worked hard to make the supernatural aspect of the production emerge. 

The BFG cast and crew created the spooky ambiance of the play by using pranks, hallucinations, and phantoms. BFG worked extremely hard to assemble the play, as auditions took place during the first week of school and they have been perfecting the production since. According to Rowan Auriemma ‘24, who plays the lead female role, Katrina Van Tassel, “Our cast and crew work day in and day out to build the set, make the characters, memorize lines, and set up the entire show. The directors and managers work outside of rehearsal to ensure the rehearsals run smoothly, and most of the individual work is done on one’s own time outside of rehearsal. It is a big commitment, but it is so worth it when the curtain opens.”. 

Auriemma’s statement shows the immense amount of dedication that is needed to produce a successful play. There is so much work that goes into all the meticulous details for the production, like all the technical aspects, lights, sounds, and costumes. Like Rowan Auriemma’s perspective, Mr. Schoeph, the director of the play, states that the BFG community is “hardworking and all-around creative.” He alludes to the fact that it is the hard work of the students that makes all the plays possible. Mr. Schoeph highlights the immense amount of work that goes into a single  production. “There are meetings, memorizing, character work, the search for props and set pieces, and workshops that take place outside official rehearsals and crew sessions.” So much cooperative effort goes into the making of the stories produced in BFG, providing the Fenwick community with a wonderful theater experience. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the supernatural classic, was a thrilling and well-produced experience that brought Washington Irving’s book to life by Fenwick’s BFG cast and crew.