The Lost Flamingo Theatre Company will bring a student-written play about the dynamics of love in an Irish bar to the stage this weekend.
Sláinte, which means “cheers” in Gaelic, will be performed twice during Moms Weekend in a production of company member Sami Scholl’s original work, which is not typical for the company. The plot follows a grandmother and granddaughter duo as they journey to Ireland to celebrate the elder’s 70th birthday. When a fog traps them in an Irish bar, they spend their time swapping stories and connecting with other characters.
Leia Hoeflich, a freshman studying anthropology, will make her directorial debut in the production.
“This is my eighth year in drama, but this is the first time I’ve gotten the chance to direct,” she said. “So it was a little stressful, but it’s definitely like I think I’ve found my niche. That’s where I do the best.”
Despite some struggles with time management, working around spring break and perfecting Irish accents, Hoeflich said the experience has been a rewarding one, and she’s happy to have finally experienced the position she’s always wanted.
“It’s definitely something that I think people should come and experience,” she said. “It’s just fun and heartwarming, and it’s something that I think everybody would just have a really good time at.”
Scholl, a sophomore studying screenwriting and producing, wrote Sláinte in a high school playwriting class. The goal of the class was to write a play by the end of the year, and for her work, she drew inspiration from extensive research on Irish customs and her grandmother’s pride in her Irish heritage. The play took nearly a year to complete with revisions and was performed for the first time by her school.
“It was stressful at times, especially when it got to that point where we were actually putting it on,” Scholl said. “But in the beginning, the writing was just very free-flowing.”
Scholl directed that production, but for the Lost Flamingo show, she decided to pass the torch to another company member. She wanted to see how another director and a different group of actors would interpret the show without her input.
“It’s been so much fun seeing a different director interpret it in a different way and seeing how the actors interpret the different characters,” Scholl said. “They wanted me to direct it, but I turned it down because I like being a writer, and I like to see people interpret my work in different ways and all the different ways it can come to life.”
Sláinte focuses on the dynamics of love between different kinds of people and the journey it takes them on. Ultimately, Scholl hopes those who attend the play leave the theater smiling and thinking the time they were watching was well-spent.
“I hope people leave this play feeling warm and fuzzy inside,” she said. “What I like about this play is that there’s no political message. There’s no dark undertones. It’s just good people having a real good time at a bar. It’s a really light-hearted concept and I think the message is to just take a chance.”
