By Kim McDarison
“Blather, Blarney and Balderdash,” by Patrick Rainville Dorn, will be brought to life onstage this weekend as performed by children within the Youth Fort Atkinson Community Theater (YouthFACT) group.
Some 23 actors within grades 2-7 will tell the tale of a tongue-tied Irish shepherd who is seeking to win the hand of his true love. The play is a comedic intertwining of Irish folk and fairy tales, which bring a trio of leprechauns to the aid of “Fin O’Grady,” who must learn and tell a story to win his prize. The leprechauns teach him three: “The Hunchback of Knockgrafton,” “the Griffin’s Feather,” and “The Bird, the Mouse, and the Cricket.”
The performance is under the direction of Jodi Ratcliff and Youth Director Annalis Gueschko, a sophomore at Lake Mills High School, who has previously performed with the YouthFACT group, but has “aged out,” Ratcliff said. The show offers her debut as a director. The play is produced by special arrangement with Colorado-based Pioneer Drama Service, Inc.
This weekend’s performances mark the first by the YouthFACT performers since 2019, Ratcliff said.
Blather, Blarney and Balderdash, which also are the names of the three leprechauns, will be performed Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m., at Luther Elementary School, 205 Park St., Fort Atkinson. Tickets are available at the door and cost $8 each.
‘Natural-born performers’
Once the cast was assembled and beginning in February, actors rehearsed three to four hours each day and usually seven days a week, Ratcliff said.
“Kids are natural-born performers, I mean who knows how better to play than children? And children make things come to life on stage,” she said.
The cast of Blather, Blarney and Balderdash came with a certain eagerness, she said, adding: “Some have previous experience and are excited to have the stage lights on them and become characters and some are new; it’s their first time, and they have all the expectation and excitement that brings.”
Ratcliff said she has directed plays before, noting that the first play she directed for FACT was in 2012. It was a production of “Harvey.”
She directed her first children’s production in 2015.
Ratcliff has been involved with theatre as a longtime board member of FACT and through other local community theatre companies, and has “dipped her toe” in many aspects of theater, but, she said, directing is still new, and while she enjoys working with both adult and youth performers, she noted that “kids keep you on your toes.”
With adults, there is less “room management,” she said.
Of the youth actors involved with this most recent play, she said about 80% are new to YouthFACT.
Still, she said, as a group, they quickly came together.
“They rolled up their sleeves and got to work,” she said, adding: “Some of them are quite young. They had to memorize their lines and know where to be on stage and make their cue lines. It’s impressive.”
Ratcliff said she chose Blather, Blarney and Balderdash for the group partly due to timing: “It was originally going to be performed around St. Paddy’s Day, and it fell in well with the time of the year, and I liked it because it had a lot of roles — it wasn’t like just a couple of roles — this play includes many children and gives them an opportunity to shine.”
‘Costumes are the icing’
Costume coordinator, Sarah Vincent Dunham, also was busy at work during Tuesday’s rehearsal, making last minute alterations to costumes before actors went on stage. Describing herself as a costumer and volunteer, she said she has been involved with theater “on and off” over the years in a number of different roles. She returned to volunteering with FACT in 2018.
She described her costuming endeavors as “mostly a hobby,” and sometimes “a side hustle.”
For this play, she said, she has made or coordinated, with help from Ratcliff, and another volunteer, Trudianne Thom, some 50 costumes, with many of the actors requiring two and three costume changes during the play. Costumes have required some sewing and some assembly, she said, with some configured through use of thrift store finds. As she worked her needle, she said: “costumes are the icing. Who want’s cake without icing?
“You put a costume on a kid and all of a sudden they get it. It makes them feel like their character. That transition is so awesome and exciting.”
Cast and crew
A full list of cast members includes:
Rylie Neis, as “Fin O’Grady”; Ingrid Spransy, as “Peegen Flaherty,” and a landowner; Noelle Herald, and “Mother Flaherty,” “Innkeeper’s Daughter,” and a cow; Jonah Behringer, as “Colm Flaherty,” and “Aidan”; Margot Phillips, as “Blather”; Greta Dunham as “Blarney”; Bently Kurszewski as “Balderdash”; Iris Dauck, as “Leprechaun One,” and a mouse; Olivia Billinghurst as “Leprechaun Two,” and a bird; Vaida Moritz, as “Leprechaun Three,” and “Mother Doyle”; Weston Dauck, as “Lusmore,” “Griffin,” and “Prince Brian”; Abigail Vander Mause as “Griffin’s Wife”, and “Stranger”; Bennett Kraus as “Madden”; Atreyu Butzine as “Little Person,” an Irishman, and a villager; Archer Dauck as “Little Person,” an Irishman, and a villager; Alana Rendon as “Little Person,” an Irishman, “Martha,” and a villager; Lerissa Reu as “Landowner’s Daughter,” and “Wee Woman”; Tre Weiss as “Innkeeper”; Colby Hepp as “Farmer,” and “Suitor”; Scarlett Littrell as “Bridgett Doyle”; Aurora Wampfler as “Suitor,” and “Queen”; Walter Moritz as “Boatman”; Elsa Frandy as “Cricket”, and Quinn Haubenschild as “Little Person,” an Irishman, “Molly,” and a villager.
Along with Ratcliff, Goeschko and Vincent Dunham, members of the production team include: stage crew member Nadia Bynum; set makers, Mark and Janice Furst, Brian Lucas and Scott Rado; Costume creator, Thom; prop makers, Keith and Heather Moritz, Andrea McCabe and Linda Harned; sound operators, Lucas, and Jack Jonas; house manager, Kim Stachowiak; box office person, Pamela Whitcomb, and members of the publicity staff, including Niina Ajango Konz, Penny Kinsman, and Whitcomb.
For more information about YouthFACT, visit its website: https://www.fortfact.org/youth-fact.
Photos from Tuesday’s rehearsal follow.
Greta Dunham, as “Blarney,” from left, Bently Kurszewski, as “Balderdash,” Rylie Neis, as “Fin O’Grady,” and Margo Phillips, as “Blather,” confer about O’Grady’s need to learn a story.
Iris Dauck, at left, in her role as a leprechaun and Weston Dauck, in his role as “Lusmore.”
Margo Phillips, in her role as “Blather,” one of three leprechauns who come to assist Fin O’Grady as he seeks to learn a story.
Alana Rendon, at left, is among actors who plays several characters, including “little person,” an Irishman, and a villager, and Archer Dauck, plays a little person, an Irishman and a villager.
Iris Dauck takes center stage in her role as a leprechaun.
Greta Dunham, as “Blarney.”
Atreyu Butzine, at right, performs in his role as a “little person.”
Abigail Vander Mause takes center stage. She plays several roles, including those of “Griffin’s wife,” and “Stranger.”
Bennett Kraus, in his role as “Madden.”
Aurora Wampfler, in her role as a suitor, leads a group of characters across the stage.
Margo Phillips, as “Blather,” at left, and Rylie Neis, as “Fin O’Grady,” watch fellow actors perform.
Play Director Jodi Ratcliff offers some instruction during one of three opening acts under rehearsal Tuesday.
Margo Phillips, in her role as “Blather,” takes center stage.
Vaida Moritz portrays a leprechaun.
Jonah Behringer performs during Tuesday’s rehearsal. He plays two roles: “Colm Flaherty,” and “Aidan.”
Ingrid Spransy performs in one of two roles: “Peegen Flaherty,” and a landowner.
Iris Dauck offers her performance as the landowner’s wife.
Youth Director Annalis Goeschko, from left, and Director Jodi Ratcliff take notes while watching the rehearsal Tuesday. Both directors offered advice to cast members during an intermission period.
Abigail Vander Mause , wearing her “Griffin’s Wife” costume, at left, along with cast members, receives instructions during the rehearsal’s intermission.
Stage crew member, Nadia Bynum, a student at Lake Mills High School, from left, Director Jodi Ratcliff and Youth Director Annalis Goeschko offer instruction before the rehearsal begins.
Tre Weiss, third from left, and several cast members entertain one another while waiting to go on stage. Weiss is wearing his “Innkeeper” costume.
Sarah Vincent Dunham sews costumes Tuesday as performers rehearse. Describing herself as a costumer and volunteer, she said she has been involved with theater in a number of different roles, beginning after college some 25 years ago. She returned to volunteering with FACT in 2018. This performance is the first given by the YouthFACT performers since 2019, she and the play’s director, Jodi Ratcliff, said.
Nadia Bynum, a freshman at Lake Mills High School who also previously has performed as a YouthFACT member, takes a short break during Tuesday’s rehearsal intermission. This is her first year serving as a stage crew member.
Kayla Howell, a frequent FACT volunteer works the light board. She has provided such services for some 10 plays since 2009, she said. She is a theatre design major with emphasis as a master electrician, she added. Volunteering with FACT allows her to continue to use her skills as a hobby.
Jack Jonas, a senior at Fort Atkinson High School, works the soundboard.
The full cast gathers during a rehearsal of “Blather, Blarney and Balderdash.” The play will be presented this weekend at Luther Elementary School, Fort Atkinson.
Kim McDarison photos.
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