Wharton County Junior College students rehearse for their upcoming show, "Small Mouth Sounds," scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 22 through Feb. 24 at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building on the Wharton campus. The show is free and open to the public. From left are Danté Hancock of East Bernard, Rodrigo Gutierrez of Cypress, Kylee Bates of East Bernard, Ginger Williams of Sugar Land and Makaya Brown of Bay City.
WHARTON, TEXAS – A picture may be worth one thousand words, but how about a play without dialogue? The Wharton County Junior College Drama Department will tackle a virtually dialogue-free play when they present “Small Mouth Sounds,” at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 through Feb. 24 at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building on the Wharton campus. The show is free and open to the public.
Written by Beth Whol, the play centers on six runaways who embark on a silent retreat in the woods. A narrator provides irregular commentary to help set the storyline, but much of the plot is expressed through the actors’ physical responses. The end result is a poignant expression of the human condition.
“All of these people are hurting in some way,” said WCJC Drama Instructor Jami Hughes. “That’s really the gist of the entire piece. We all are struggling, and we all are hurting, and to express this silently looks different than if we did it through language.”
Hughes said her drama students have found the play to be both fun and challenging, creating new opportunities for creative expression. A sparse set compliments the production by keeping the audience’s attention on the actors.
“I hope the audience is receptive to this concept,” Hughes said. “”It is very interesting and we have learned a lot about ourselves through the process.”
Hughes noted that the play will be performed at the Texas Community College Speech and Theatre Association Play Festival later this spring. Cast and crew include: Kylee Bates of East Bernard, Makaya Brown of Bay City, Valerie Brown of Wharton, Rodrigo Gutierrez of Cypress, Andrew Guyton of Richmond, Crystal Hackstedt of Needville, Danté Hancock of East Bernard, C’Aira Hearse of Wharton, Abigail Higginbotham of Palacios, Evony Hollaway of El Campo, Karis Meek of Wharton, Luis Perez of Wharton, Hannah Purnell of El Campo, Johnny Rodriguez of Sealy, Emily Sotos of Rosenberg, Aiden Tarango of Sugar Land, Lisette Vargas of El Campo and Ginger Williams of Sugar Land.
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