Westwood High School To Present Argonautika October 25 and 26

Westwood High School’s Performing Arts Department will be presenting Mary Zimmerman’s Argonautika October 25th and 26th. This is the fourth Mary Zimmerman play Westwood High has put on, the most recent being 2017’s The White Snake. “It's really fun for me to be able to further explore the same playwright. It's a similar style to The White Snake, but it's also really different and I love looking at all the differences and similarities between the two shows,” says senior Sydney Jud, who plays Athena. “I was used to Zimmerman’s style, so it was easier to put myself back into acting with her writing. She uses very unique and beautiful language!” Fellow senior Fiona Garrity, who plays Medea, adds.

Argonautika is a retelling of the Greek myth of Jason’s Golden Fleece. Set before the Trojan War, Jason treks Argonautica under the order of King Pelias to find the Golden Fleece, and he encounters many challenges along the way. “I've loved doing the productions with the high school and was excited to do another. I was going to do it no matter what the show was because I love working with the people, but I was very excited to do a Greek mythology-based story,” comments Jud.

“I like my character Medea because she is not very much like me. It’s fun to think outside the box and really experiment,” Garrity says.

“I've been familiar with the character of Athena in a vague sense for a long time. It's been incredible to take a figure that I'm so familiar with and embody them in such a unique way. Athena also acts as a sort of narrator for the story and it's been really interesting to figure out how to use the language as precisely as needed,” explains Jud. “The set is really incredible. I was a little uncertain about being that high up for the majority of the show (because I'm kind of scared of heights) but I quickly got (almost) comfortable.”

Garrity also praises the set “[It] is so cool! The platform makes it so the show can have lots of dimension. Tech theater did an amazing job on it!”

Both young women discuss being students and people involved in the performing arts. “It's really all about managing time, which is definitely a learned skill. I've had the fortune of having been in the shows for four years, and I've had a fair amount of practice with time management. I get homework done in rehearsals (during downtime), during lunches. Using free blocks effectively is an absolute necessity, but it's completely possible to get everything done and maintain a high academic standing. I've maintained high honor roll for the past four years, and I have been a three-season athlete/actress for all four of those years,” notes Jud.

“The whole cast learns how to balance school work with memorization and rehearsals very well. It’s very important to be on top of both of these things as they are responsibilities we cannot skimp on,” agrees Garrity.

Argonautika will be presented on October 25 at 7:30p.m, and October 26th at 2:00p.m and 7:30p.m. Tickets may be purchased on Westwood Stage.com.