Opening Knight Players to Present "Stone Girls Dreaming"

Next week, the Opening Knight Players will be presenting Stone Girls Dreaming, a story about an Israeli girl and a Palestinian girl as they struggle to understand the conflict that ravages their region.

Based on a true story, the story takes place over three days in March 2002 in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although war is an element of this play, its real focus is on humanity and hope as it examines the cultural pressures placed on two young girls. 

The production will be held on Nov. 1-3 at Ellington High School. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens.  

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Drama advisor William Prenetta said that he chose this production for several reasons. One reason was that it is a challenging play to produce both topically and artistically.

"The story deals with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has been going on for such a long time and little progress has been made for peace in this region," he said. "I wanted my theater students to learn about this ongoing conflict since few had knowledge of this large problem. This is where theater can be educational and well as transformative."  

Secondly, the play is told with both realistic and mythical elements which will require the actors and technical students to push their abilities to insure this production is both artistic but comprehensible for the audience.

Prenetta said that he is taking an environmental approach to this piece and when patrons arrive for the show, they will be given either an Israeli or Palestinian passport and then be asked to only sit in reserved sections for these two groups.

"Upon entering the theatrical space, our patrons will be bombarded with sounds, images, and reenactments of events that happen daily in this region," he said.  

The play will be held without an intermission and will be followed by a discussion with the cast and crew about the play and its development.