Thank you for joining us as Whitney High School presents Little Women by Kate Hamill, adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott.
I would like to thank the cast of students for allowing me to direct them in a way that hopefully provided them with one or two fresh ways of looking at things, and gave them one or two more tools to live by. Thank you to their parents and families for entrusting me with that responsibility. This story covers a wide range of topics, from power structures and female roles in society, to war and the homefront, but it is ultimately about family and the nature of the sibling relationship.
Thank you to Theatre IV students especially. Our simple conversations together could rival any in the world, and it is the most undervalued skill in the education system of today as it can bring a greater understanding between people than any superficial program, funded by millions of tax dollars, could ever dream. You are in many ways an extension of my own family during the year. You allow me to try new things and see if they work or don’t work, and we’ve found some really incredible ways to approach our theatrical experience because of your attitude.
Thanks to a supportive WHS administration. I am especially grateful for our mutual understanding that this theatre is about providing and managing a student experience where in order to truly succeed and learn, there must be the opportunity for failure. I hope my students fail everyday when they come to rehearsal because it means they are trying and developing persistence and grit as they desire to get better and use the skills learned here to help the world. I can’t express enough my appreciation to have the support of this school and district to be able to design the theatre program in such a way.
Thank you to my parents, whose consistent support has only increased in value at every changing stage of my life. I see more and more of myself, and how who I am came from who you are, and its oddly comforting and equally bizarre as I see parts of myself in Everest.
Thanks to my brother and sister. As I directed rehearsal after rehearsal I was struck time and time again by the nature of the sibling relationship, and I thought of both of you often. It never occurred to me before how crucial our conflicts were to my own personal growth in navigating every type of relationship in my life.
Thanks to the monthly dinners n’company with extended family. Families need something they count on and to look forward to doing together, and this has been such a wonderful addition to my life. I always look forward to our conversations.
Thank you to my wife, Mallory, who listens attentively to the ups and downs of putting on each production each night I return home, and more often than not, shares a solution or a perspective I never would have considered. She is not only my closest ally in life, but my best colleague for meeting with and confiding in so I can be as successful as possible. I especially love the humor we share as we talk about our days as teachers of teenagers.
Thank you to my son, Everest, who does new things each week that terrify and thrill me in the same breath. You are the most real person I think I have ever met and the greatest wonder in the world. When you laugh, it’s like heaven piercing through. It’s just so cool. And I’ll do anything to make it happen.
Thanks to Luna and Forest. You’re absolutely crazy, but without your craziness, I don’t know how I would manage some days. Forest, you are a force to be reckoned with and as complex as any human I’ve met. Luna, our adventures and excursions together are unmatched. You are indeed my most loyal companion on a snowy mountain when I need a little encouragement.
~ Joshua Ansley
