South Barber's school play proceeds will go to hurricane relief

Rather than following Dorothy down the the famous yellow brick road, South Barber's drama class will go somewhere over the rainbow with Beth as they present "Oz." The performances are Saturday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in the SBHS Auditorium. Described as a hilarious and heart-wrenching exploration of grief and perseverance on the road to acceptance, "Oz"tells the story of Beth, a teenager who is reeling from her sister's death.

Drama teacher and director Meagan Henry said that although the story begins and ends on a serious note, the play itself is full of humor and odd characters such as: a guide who tells it like it is; Munchkins suffering from the effects of a hard recession; Quix and Quax, who offer more confusion than direction; a scarecrow who is perfectly happy living in blissful ignorance; and a witch who Beth finds herself relating to more than she'd like to admit. One of the twists to the original Wizard of Oz is that the yellow brick road sold to foreign investors after a financial meltdown. The Scarecrow revels in his ignorant bliss, the Cowardly Lion acts like a paranoid sociopath and the Tin Man embraces his emotional numbness. Beth wonders what role she plays in this classic story gone awry. "Oz" was written by Don Zolidis.

"We have performed many of his works in the past, and after Hurricane Harvey he offered to allow casts to perform any of his plays royalty-free if they would donate the proceeds from at least one performance to any sort of hurricane relief fund," Henry said. "After experiencing some rough storms here this summer, our cast discussed the challenges of cleaning up after a natural disaster. We felt that "Oz" was fitting for a cast from Kansas trying to relate to the experiences students were having in communities hit hard by hurricanes this year." Admission is $5.