Editor’s note: Maisey Mansson is an intern for The Park Record
Park City High School junior Maisey Mansson can add playwright and director to her resume, after her work, “School Day,” makes its theatrical-reading debut on Saturday at the Egyptian Theatre Studios.
Mansson, who served as the teen aid for the Egyptian Theatre’s YouTheatre program, looks forward to the 5 p.m. reading of her work, which is about a tight-knit group of students who “grapple with the effects of gun violence on themselves, their friends and their community.”
Mansson, whose interests include psychology and sociology, began writing the script last summer.
“It was at two in the morning when I got this idea,” she said. “I have no idea where it came from, and I wrote most of it in one night. It all started with me writing about the main family sitting at a breakfast table, watching the news about a school shooting that happened the day before. Then, I kind of went from there.”
As Mansson wrote, she thought about presenting the play with YouTheatre, an Egyptian Theatre program that teaches pre-teens and teens the skills of theater.
“I talked with my dad about it the next day, and he asked me what the play was about,” she said. “I told him it was about a school shooting, and he didn’t think they would do it. But then he came back to me and said, ‘If I did it in the right way then I think you can do it.'”
Mansson, who has served as a teen aid in YouTheatre, presented the script to YouTheatre Diretor Jamie Wilcox, and her staff, and they decided to do it. So, she began working with Amy Livingston, YouTheatre’s director of education and media, and award-winning playwright Rachel Bublitz, YouTheatre’s resident playwright.
“I did a few Zoom calls with them, and we went through a few drafts,” Mansson said. “I would send them the script, and Amy would be there as more of an advisor, and she would tell me what was possible to do in the theater.”
Bublitz would read the drafts and take notes.
“Then she would give me feedback on where I could make things better,” Mansson said.
The three decided the first step would be a theatrical reading, which is much like doing a radio show, Mansson said.
“A staged reading is where the cast members have their scripts out in front of them, and we’ll have them on movable music stands,” she said. “There will be normal lighting, sound and technical components that a regular production would have. But there will be less blocking (action) than in a traditional setting.”
The reading, which will run between 30 and 40 minutes, will not include stage appearances of the shooter, Mansson said.
“I made it a point not to mention the shooter’s personality because I wanted to give the story back to the victim and his family,” she said. “I think a lot of crime stories in general focus on the perpetrator. I mean, I can name Jeffrey Dahmer, but I can’t name any of his victims. So, that was a big part of it.”
The cast features eight youths, ranging in age from pre-teen to 14, Mansson said.
“I originally expected to cast older students,” she said. “I wanted to cast 16- and 17-year-olds from Park City High School, but we thought we should cast from the YouTheatre programs to give them opportunities.”
YouTheatre held auditions in February, and Mansson looked for students who had an air of maturity but who also had personalities that were relatable to everyday life.
“Casting the kids was crazy, because they didn’t audition with my script,” Mansson said. “So a big fear of mine was whether their parents would let them participate or not.”
Cast members’ parents quelled Mansson’s concerns after they received the script.
“They said their kids loved the story and writing, and they liked how relatable it is to today’s time period,” she said. “So, all the kids and their families got behind doing this.”
While Mansson has written scripts in the past, “School Day” is her first to get to the reading stage.”
“My plan is to turn it into a full production and have it published,” she said. “That’s what happens after this.”