Creek Presents “The Oregon Trail”
Modern-day Mary Jane, played by sophomore Bridget Brown (left) in the Dysentery cast, speaks to her sister, played by junior Becca Dwyer (right), after coming home in tears. For most of the show, Mary Jane remained a calm person who didn’t show emotion; but after being trapped in an elevator for three hours, she grows concerned that her life is meaningless.
May 5, 2023
Creek’s theater program held their spring musical production of The Oregon Trail from April 27 to 29. The story follows the story of a teenage girl in the 1990s and through to her experiences as an unemployed college grad.
Played by junior Becca Dwyer and sophomore Brooke Sax, Jane, played by sophomore Kate Dan and freshman Katie Whitehead, struggles with depression from middle school to adulthood and distracts herself by playing the popular late 1900s video game The Oregon Trail. In the game, her character also suffers through her depression when her family decides to move from Missouri to Oregon. As the characters move through life together, they learn valuable lessons about how to keep moving forward.
“This play is extremely important regarding some current topics of our generation. The play deals with topics of depression and suicide,” Dwyer said. “I think it really embodies how a person can feel with something like depression. I think it’s also really good to become aware of how something like that works and how people function due to it. It is also really important to talk about things like this and I think The Oregon Trail does a really cool interpretation.”
Cast and crew worked on the play from the week they returned from spring break all the way up until performances. Junior set designer Erika Scala worked first with director Alex Burkart to brainstorm the set, then with sophomore associate set designer Evan Roosa to come up with a concrete plan. Scala and Roosa then worked with junior construction head Toby Shu and tech directors Braden List and Bill Fisher on building the set.
“It’s really great when it all starts coming together when we can load in the set and it all gets painted and looks like we planned and it all works out,” Roosa said.
The play had two separate casts, Snakebite, directed by senior Ava Sposito, and Dysentery, directed by senior Jack Diamant, which each performed two shows. Dwyer was part of the Dysentery cast.
“Working with multiple casts is one of the coolest things you can do. Being able to play the same role as someone else is an awesome learning experience,” Dwyer said. “You can see how other people interpret certain things and overall you can see it through a whole different view. Along with that, it feels like one big family.”
See moments from the production below.
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Sophomore Bridget Brown, who plays modern-day and past Mary Jane in the Dysentery cast, sings a song as she tries to distract herself from the reality of moving to Oregon from Missouri.
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Sophomore Bridget Brown (left), junior Grant Gustafson (center), and sophomore Kate Dann (right) ride in their carriage on the trail to Oregon from Missouri.
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Junior Becca Dwyer, who plays modern-day Jane in the Dysentery cast, stares in disgust at her computer screen after watching a documentary about a starving polar bear in the Arctic.
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Sophomore Brooke Sax, who plays modern-day Jane in the Snakebite cast, describes her sadness to her sister, played by junior Molly Grantz. The play heavily focuses on themes of depression and sadness as both modern-day and past Janes learn to adjust to their new surroundings.
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Modern-day Mary Jane, played by sophomore Bridget Brown (left) in the Dysentery cast, hugs her sister, played by junior Becca Dwyer (right). Jane, who struggles with depression throughout the play, relied on alcohol to ‘numb’ her pain after a fight with her sister.
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Past Jane, played by freshman Katie Whitehead in the Snakebite cast, embraces her sister, played by junior Molly Grantz, while discussing her feelings of sadness about losing her mother and moving to Oregon.
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Junior Grant Gustafson, who plays Clancy in the Dysentery cast, confronts his daughters after they wake him up in the middle of the night.
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Junior Grant Gustafson, who plays Clancy in the Dysentery cast, sings along with his daughters Jane and Mary Anne as they take a break on the trail for breakfast and discuss Jane’s aspirations to become a happier person.
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Past Mary Jane, played by sophomore Bridget Brown in the Dysentery cast, smiles at her family one morning on the trail to Oregon.
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Past Jane, played by freshman Katie Whitehead in the Snakebite cast, lays flowers on her family member’s graves after they both die of toxic water poisoning.
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Junior Becca Dwyer, who plays modern-day Jane in the Dysentery cast, writes about her problems in a journal provided by her sister in an effort to feel better.
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Freshman Katie Whitehead, who plays past Jane in the Snakebite cast, looks out of her carriage when she begins to hear the music that modern-day Jane is listening to.
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Past Jane, played by freshman Katie Whitehead in the Snakebite cast, sings along to modern-day Jane’s music. Throughout the play, the characters are connected through their experiences as well as music.
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Modern-day Mary Jane, played by junior Molly Grantz, and modern-day Jane, played by sophomore Brooke Sax in the Snakebite cast, embrace after talking through Mary Jane’s emotions.
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Past Jane, played by freshman Katie Whitehead in the Snakebite cast, tips her hat to modern-day Jane in the closing scenes of the play.
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