Oxford High School Theatre presents the world-premiere of Shadow of the Son, from Thursday to Saturday, February 29 to March 2, with performances starting at 7:30 pm in the Ava H. Bonds Auditorium.
An original play by Oxford native and former Oxford Middle School drama teacher Kate Leslie, Shadow of the Son takes a contemporary look at the lives of twin gods Artemis and Apollo, born to Zeus in Greek mythology—and respectively associated with the moon and sun.
Illustrious local musician Damein Wash (and Leslie’s former coworker) scored original music for the play, and considers it a “dream collaboration” to work with director and producer John Davenport, on what will mark his 125th show with the OSD and Theatre Arts Guild.
“John picked it up and decided to make a big production out of it,” said Wash, “bringing in a reputable costume designer and choreographer. He asked me to put some music to it—so I did.”
Wash composed instrumental music for all 18 scenes of the play, a task that was a completely new undertaking for the seasoned musician, who said that he read each scene “several times” before adapting them musically.
“I’ve written music for short films, but never for stage like this before.”
Wash paid compliments to the Oxford High students, who in some cases carried the task of playing two different instruments on the recordings, all done on site at OHS.
Their performances of the musical score—which contains 18 scenes and recurring themes, and Wash described as “not exactly simple”—reinforced his confidence in the production as a whole. “They are very skillful musicians to be able to pull this off,” he said.
Regarding his approach to adapting instrumental music to a very complex, thought-provoking take on divine twins—with opposing outlooks on many matters—Wash said, “I try to be as descriptive as I can with the music, and try to paint a lot to the play itself, depicting characters, scenes, moods, and emotions. You try to capture it.”
He also said it will be about as “big a production as Oxford High School normally does. It’ll be nice to see.”
Although Wash’s score is mostly instrumental, some live singing by the cast will work in tandem with the music. He said that one of his favorite things about his role as the musical composer for Shadow of the Son, is that he gets to sit back and enjoy the show.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to compose and just hand off the score to really talented folks,” said Wash. “It’s nice to just be able to create the music.”
He added, “I’ve been making music around this town for a long time, and it’s just especially nice to be connected with the school.”
Tickets are available at oxfordhs.booktix.com.
