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Photos by Amy Wrenn/Nighthawk News Magazine

By Suzanne Harrison, Staff Writer

Get ready for a change of pace as First Flight takes on its most serious play in history. “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” captures the raw emotion of the Holocaust. Instead of the usual lighthearted and comedic cliche, the directors went a more somber route for this year’s show, a true, heartfelt tale that tells the story of the thousands of Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp of Terezin and the poems and artwork they left behind.

Sophomore Chloe Futrell is playing the lead role of Raja Englanderova, a teenager who survives the Holocaust. She acts as a narrator throughout the show, taking the audience through an hour-and-a-half journey of her life inside Terezin. This is Futrell’s first lead in any show at First Flight, which will showcase the performance Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Nov. 17-19). The first two shows take place at 7 p.m., with the Saturday performance at 2. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students, seniors and children.

“It’s pretty surprising I was cast as Raja. I did not even audition for a leading role,” Futrell said. “But that means a lot to me, that I was even considered for this leading role because I am a sophomore.”

With a larger role comes greater dedication to the show.

“It’s a big responsibility because of all the lines I have to memorize and the emotion I have to convey throughout the play,” Futrell said. “(It) makes me nervous yet excited because I have never had a role like this.”

The show does not only revolve around the children of Terezin. Raja also gives the audience a look of what her life was like before the Holocaust, including sharing memories of her family. Senior Paul Seyler plays Pavel Englanderova, Raja’s older brother. Seyler said this is one of the more difficult roles he has yet to play.

“In my previous roles I could use bits of my own personality for my character, but this role is different in a sense that I cannot relate to Pavel and his tragic life,” Seyler said. “Pavel is the closest thing in the show to an uplifting character. He is the only one in his family who truly accepts what is going on around him.”

Seyler admitted he was surprised when he found out what the play was: “I was honestly worried that the kids at the school wouldn’t appreciate it very much. I think that when they come see the play, they will take it more seriously.”

While actors are an important part of any show, the key component of making any show run smoothly is the technical crew behind the scenes. Senior Avery Daniels has been on tech crew since freshman year and is the stage manager for “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” While Daniels is used to working with the crew off stage, it is a whole different scene going to rehearsal every day and being surrounded by actors.

“The hardest part about being stage manager is the fact that at this point in time I’m only working with the actors, and I feel more comfortable with tech, so right now I feel very out of my element,” Daniels said.

Directors Monica Penn and Lauren Deal wrote more than half the show to make roles for everyone in the cast of almost 30 students.

“This play is definitely a challenge because there is so much we need to re-arrange and re-do because we have made it very unique by adding lines into the show,” Deal said.

Both directors agreed it was time to do a more solemn show.

“We knew we would like a serious play this year, because First Flight has not done a serious play in a long time and we read the play and we were very touched by the subject matter and thought it would be a good challenge for our cast of students,” Deal said.

Members of the cast agreed that it is very important for people to come see this show, which promises to not only bring tears to the audience, but a history lesson along with it.

“Everyone studies the Holocaust in school and this play really brings this true event to life and it lets you dig deeper into the real lives of these victims,” Deal said.

Junior Suzanne Harrison can be reached at [email protected].