NOCTILUCA January 2018

CULTURE Appleton, Wisconsin January 2018 Volume XXIII Issue III Page 9 The Pirate Queen demands much time and work By Lila Metko

tents of this discussion were. Many of the characters were real people including Grace O’ Malley herself. “Grace is fierce and free spirited,” said Pisciotta. “She is loyal to those she loves and will fight for what she be- lieves in.” Queen Elizabeth, still very well known to this day, is also portrayed throughout the mu- sical as an extremely strong woman. “She will do everything in her power to keep her coun- try safe,” Piscottia said, “Both women are not afraid to stand up to the men in their coun- tries that believe they deserve power over them.” The struggle for wom- en’s equal rights was fought bravely by women of the 16th century, and still continues to be fought this way today. Both Parker and Piscottia made a comparison to the re- cent Golden Globes, in which prominent women of 2018 wore black to show their soli- darity against sexual harass- ment. One of the main rea- sons Parker chose The Pirate Queen as this year’s musical was because of its relevance to current world events. “This year seemed to be the right matching of art and real- ity,” said Parker. Pisciotta said, “It is a top- ic that was relevant to the women of the 16th century as much as it is today.”

Ahoy mateys! The Pirate Queen cast has been an- nounced and preparations for the musical are underway. North takes on a big challenge by performing The Pirate Queen , being the first non- professional group to perform it in Wisconsin. In fact, the show is not set for produc- tion with a non-professional cast and it is not available in the United States for ama- teur production. However, an exception has been made for North’s Theatre Department. “It’s very challenging even for seasoned professional per- formers,” said Ronald Parker, the director of The Pirate Queen . “The fact that this per- formance has such demanding vocal and scenic requirements is what makes it particularly complex.” The Pirate Queen contains authentic elements of Irish culture, which the North the- atre department will work hard to replicate. Dance is a big component of this year’s musical. The musical opens with a group of sailors doing an oar dance. “It’s sort of like a Renais- sance Stomp,” said Parker of the opening dance. Traditional Irish dance will be seen throughout the per- formance. The creators of the original production teamed up with the director of River- dance, a show that specifi- cally showcases Irish dance. “It … really brings the au-

Actors in vocals practice with Luke Aumann, in preparation for the large musical demands of The Pirate Queen. Photo by Olivia Molter

dience into the world of 16th century Ireland,” said senior, Margaux Pisciotta who will play the role of Grace O’ Mal- ley,. Another layer of complex- ity that is part of The Pirate Queen is the use of stage combat. There are two dra- matic sword fight scenes, both including a large amount of actors combatting each other at the same time. “This is very unusual,” said Parker “Typically it is two, or a small group of actors.” Fortunately, Parker is not dis- couraged by this large scale of stage combat because he has a particular expertise in this area. He instructs both be-

ginner and armed combat at Renaissance School, as well as having coached many stu- dents in previous performanc- es involving combat. If The Pirate Queen isn’t elaborate enough, Parker has decided to team up with a dia- lect coach from California so the actors can learn to speak their lines with a British or Irish dialect. These compo- nents require many hours of the actors’ time to be dedicat- ed to the show. “We typically spend ap- proximately 25 hours a week rehearsing until dress re- hearsal week, where we are at school until 9 p.m. every night,” said Pisciotta “It is a

lot of time to dedicate to one thing, but the end product makes all the time we spend worth it.” The Pirate Queen is very much based on real life events that happened in 16th centu- ry England and Ireland. Al- though the musical has been condensed to happen over a shorter amount of time and contains a fabricated love in- terest, much of the story re- lates to real historical occur- rences. “The historic meeting be- tween Grace and Queen Eliz- abeth,” said Parker, “is very much the way it actually hap- pened.” To this day it is still unknown what the exact con- Europe. Another Hanukkah staple is the sufganiyot, a type of doughnut filled with jelly. Like Christmas, Hanukkah involves giving gifts to chil- dren, however, this tradition initially started as the giving of gelt: money to reward chil- dren for their religious studies and give them the opportunity to give to charity. . Playing with dreidels is also a common activity around Hanukkah. Dreidels are four-sided tops with a Hebrew letter on each side, forming an acronym for the phrase “nes gadol hayah sham”, meaning “a great mir- acle happened there.” Coins and other goodies are won or lost depending on which side the top lands on. Some of Ha- nukkah’s traditions are as old as the holiday itself, while oth- ers have sprung up more re-

Hanukkah: more than a menorah The history of this Jewish holiday begins in 168 BC. Is- rael was under the rule of a series of Syrian-Greek kings known as the Seleucid dynas- ty, the current one being King Antioch Epiphanes. Unlike his predecessor, who was not opposed to Jews continuing their religious practices, An- tioch was not as accepting and had Judaism outlawed. In 168 BC, he sent his soldiers into Jerusalem, where they mas- sacred thousands. The troops also defiled the Holy Second Temple by setting up an altar to Zeus. The attack spurred a massive rebellion led by Judah the Maccabee, meaning “the Hammer”, and within a few years the Syrian-Greeks were forced out of Jerusalem. To re- sanctify the temple, Judah and a handful of fol- lowers rebuilt the altar and went to light the tem- ple’s Menorah, a practice which at that time re- quired olive oil for fuel, but there was only enough blessed oil left to light the meno- rah for one day. Somehow the sparse supply of oil lasted for eight days. To honor the miracle of the oil, a holiday was declared: Hanuk- kah. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for “dedication”, refer- encing the rededication of the temple to the Jewish faith. He- brew uses a set of characters, unlike the alphabet and the soft “k”/ hard “h” sound that starts the word is not found in the English language, the word became anglicized with several spell- ings. The holi- day itself begins on the eve of the twenty-fifth of Kislev. The celebration lasts eight days, each marked by the lighting of another candle on the menorah. In honor of the oil used to light the menorah in Hanuk- kah’s founding miracle, some of the holidays traditional foods are cooked in it, like fried potato patties called latkes, especially popular in Eastern Generally, there is a meno- rah in each household, some- times one per family member, and they are typically in places where its light has space to fill the room or shine outside. Other menorahs are placed in synagogues or public spaces. The lighting of the menorah is done with prayer, as some- one uses the central candle to light each of the candles for that day. The overall symbolic idea behind the iconic cande- labrum is to shine bright in the midst of darkness, standing up for one’s beliefs despite being surrounded by opposition like Judah and the other Jews fac- ing persecution just as Jews still face in Jerusalem. By Sophia Krupka A traditional menorah used during Hanukkah Photo by Sophia Krupka cently, but the lighting of the menorah has always been an important aspect of at the cen- ter of the holiday.