FIREBIRD Letter to Palm Valley Community by Charles Schnell

“Naked and alone we came into exile. In her dark womb we did not know our mother’s face; from the prison of her flesh have we come into the unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth. . . . O waste of lost, in the hot mazes, lost, among bright stars on this weary, unbright cinder, lost! Remembering speechlessly we seek the great forgotten language, the lost lane-end into heaven, a stone, a leaf, an unfound door. Where? When?

O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again.” 

— Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel

Dear Palm Valley Community, 

If someone asked you, “Who are you,” how would you respond? “I’m a. . .” Student? Parent? Teacher? Social worker? Musician? Politician? Doctor? Athlete? Farmer? Architect? Clown?

Then, if someone asked you, “What are you?” how would your response change? Would it change at all? What’s the difference between “who” and “what” you are? Which one makes you happy? Which limits you? Which obstructs you from being the happiest you can possibly be? 

These questions are all asked and answered in Firebird, the new musical dramedy premiering at Palm Valley School this March. This play marks the return of the highly-regarded playwriting team of Mr. Chris Griffin and Mr. Ken Sarkis at Palm Valley School. (If you are a fan of shows such as Home Sweet Homer and Shakespeare at Starlucks, this newest musical of theirs is right up your alley!)

The play takes place over the span of the life of one person, named Arruda, as he travels throughout the world, bound to the task of defining “who” he is. There are no antagonists, other than life itself and that obnoxious, deceiving question, “Who are you?” During his voyage, Arruda encounters and learns from a wide array of odd folk who have already defined “who” they are and are quite comfortable with their answers, including a family who sweeps, the U.S. Common Core education system, successful businessmen whose specific company’s name we had to take out of the script (for copyright reasons), Buddhists and yogos, spirits of the Amazon river, and—everyone’s favorite type of people—self-absorbed actors.  

This person’s journey to self-discovery will be accompanied by only the greatest composers of the 19th and 20th century, such as Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, with modern, original lyrics to tell our story. 

Almost all of the 23 drama students in the Upper School Theatre Department will be playing multiple roles, and you better believe every single one will be acting, singing, and dancing their way through this existential, musical romp of self-discovery. And, to top it all off, you certainly don’t want to miss the show that will be Mr. Sarkis’s “Last Hurrah!” as a theatre director and teacher. You can expect that he is giving it his all! (As usual.) 

If you would like to join us on this young person’s journey, Firebird will be running for six shows in the MPR: March 20, 21, 27, 28, 29 at 7:30 p.m. and on March 22 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets will start at $15 for general admission and will cost $20 for premium seats. (To purchase tickets, you can do so at the link below* or at the door.) The department is hard at work rehearsing and producing Firebird, and we hope to see you there as what you truly are. 

On behalf of the cast and crew of Firebird, 

Charles Schnell

Editor: Luke Langlois

*To buy tickets for Firebird, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-palm-valley-school-9832789066