Wheaton Words, a show that had energetic choreography and emotion-filled monologues, graced the Chapel this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The 4th annual production, titled “Convalescence,” was a showcase of talent, both performative and literary. Theatrical at times with both acting and interpretive choreography, each performance drew emotion from the very first, when senior Chris Truini, with his hand outstretched towards the audience, yelled, “H-E-L-P… H-E-L-P?!”
One performer leaves and, in silence only broken by sneezes or the occasional creak of a bench, the next one steps into the soft blue stage lights. Speaking and performing on subjects that ranged from childhood, illness and identity, to trauma, sexuality and gender, these students’ words, sometimes incredibly personal, were a sight to behold.
“Kiss your bruises, and keep yourself warm,” freshman Cameron Adelman says in the reciting of his piece, “Get Through This,” a retelling of the day when he pierced his nose, exactly 6 months after his rape. This was just one of the many touching performances that took on extremely personal happenings that in the day-to-day, may not be spoken about perhaps as often as they should be.
In speaking about the ultimate importance of a production such as Wheaton Words, senior Sarah Creese, one of the directors and performers, said, “Everyone has their own unique story, everyone has something to perform and, every single year, there is one story, monologue, poem, presentation, etcetera, that touches everyone in the audience, and if it makes them think about who they are, how they affect the world around them, and how they can make the rest of the world a better place, that is something that we really need to tap into.”
“Wheaton is this really interesting microcosm of people that come from extremely diverse backgrounds with so many different stories and you never expect that in any other normal situation,” says Shruti Sudarsan ‘19, who performed the moving piece “Dear Sarita,” written by an anonymous author.
Wheaton Words, bringing to the community stories we may never have heard otherwise, is an annual performance, and one that, if you happened to this year, you should not miss the next time it graces the stage.
