In November, Kings High School presented the intriguing boarding-school mystery, “The Green Light,” to a riveted audience. Not only did the production pack several twists and turns into the family-friendly performance masterpiece, but its deliberate focus on strong female leads was penned by two Kings alumnae.
“We wrote ‘The Green Light’ with the intention of giving students the kind of play we would have loved to perform in high school,” says writer and Kings graduate Kira Doebereiner. “There’s a little bit of something for everyone — drama, stage combat, comedy, complex characters and a lot of heart.”
Her co-writer (and fellow Kings alum) Alexandria Taylor agrees. “‘The Green Light’ is an amalgamation of what we had longed for as students in theatre and what we hope is a gift to female actors going forward. We hoped to create authentic, complex, witty, engaging and flawed female characters who are the driving force of the narrative.”
The production came about on a whim after Kings’ school play director approached Doebereiner after the previous fall. “I laughed it off,” she recalls. But Taylor encouraged her and offered to help.
“It was a frantic few months,” Doebereiner and Taylor say. “We started writing in March with a preliminary deadline in May.” Their director met with them throughout the writing process, advising on the theatrical aspects. By August, she says, the script was show-ready, and auditions began.
“When we first saw the actors onstage, it was surreal in the best way,” Doebereiner says. “Our characters, whom we had spent months writing, were suddenly standing in front of us, very much alive and finally realized. We couldn’t have imagined during so many late-night writing stints how wonderful the final show would end up being.”
Now, the pair are focused on bringing the play to even more audiences. “We think this play fills a need for high school drama programs,” Taylor says. “It features a majority female cast, which reflects the current makeup of theatres, and deals with high school-aged lessons and themes. The characters are dynamic and fun to play but are still challenging roles that let students show their talent. Most importantly,” she says, “the story is captivating and has broad appeal.
“We also just love these characters and this world we’ve crafted, Doebereiner adds. “We want to keep telling their stories through different mediums. But for right now, the focus is play promotion!”
To learn more, visit greenlightplay.com