On Thursday, Nov. 7th, “The Sneeze,” an Anton Chekhov comedy, made its Polytechnic School debut in the Black Box Theater. The ensemble cast consisted of sophomores Sophie Converse, Tara Parsa and Noah Srinivasan; juniors Sophie Ankeles, Lily-Rose Garcia and Taylor Yong and seniors Hampton Persaud, Elias Ramirez and Helen Vellanoweth.
Junior Sophie Chiu, an audience member, shared, “The Sneeze was one of the best Poly performances I’ve ever seen. Props to Mr. Robinson and the entire cast—it was incredible to watch and so funny. My friends and I couldn’t stop laughing!”
The intimate venue was arranged in an arena style, with audience members seated on three sides of the stage. The play features four acts: “Alien Corn,” “The Proposal,” “Drama” and “The Bear,” all connected by Chekhov’s use of irony and humor to hyperbolize the absurdity of social interactions.
Senior Emily Yoong, who watched the play, commented, “Watching the different scenes with their jokes and plot twists was so much fun, and the actors did a great job of bringing their characters to life. The arena-type seating really helped make the play feel more immersive because it felt like we were part of the room.”
“The Sneeze” also marked the debut for Performing Arts Teacher Sam Robinson in his first year at Poly.
“I wanted to choose both a comedy and a classic. Ultimately, the production would be something I felt would be interesting for our audience and would be a fun way to start my work with the actors,” Robinson shared.
Senior Giuilana Nelson designed the costumes, and the technical theater crew, led by Performing Arts teachers Andrew Villaverde and Richard Sherrell, included juniors Bridget Bickell, Charlie Bryant and Melissa Ponce and senior Matthew Bristing.
Bristing, the stage manager, shared, “Just seeing all of the technical aspects coming together, like lights and sound cues, and seeing all of the actors react to the lighting. Especially when there is an audience there, with that additional person on stage [the audience], just seeing all of our hard work during tech week pay off is one of the most rewarding parts of the process.”
