The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Performance of Grace

  Where were you the night of February 28th, 2014? If you were not at the Performing Arts Center, you were not at the right place! Frostburg students did a wonderful job in performing Mark Twain's story: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. There are too many performers/characters to name; however, the main roles were Tom Sawyer played by Austin Jacobs, Becky Thatcher played by Sara Danley, and Huckleberry Finn played by Eric Brown. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a story following the life of Tom Sawyer, a teenager who is eager about exploring his little town in Missouri. He tends to find himself in trouble and sticky situations but somehow always finds his way back out it.
 
  While waiting for the play to begin, as well as during intermission, the audience was welcomed with music that was being played on a fiddle. The music set the tone for the play which was very "southern-like." Before the play started it was easy to see people were excited for the performance to start and wanted to be closer to the stage. One person in the crowd repeatedly asked, "Is this row G? Is this row G? Is this row G?" After much hesitation the guy sitting next to me politely responded, "No it's row E!" It was nice to know people were anxious to see the performance.

   I found it very interesting that the audience was more so of an older crowd. The play had a lot of language that related more so to the older audience. For example the words "tan" as in the action of spanking someone. People surrounding me were commenting that they were used to hearing these words/expressions when they were growing up.
 
  During intermission a lady beside me was asked "are you still up?" She promptly responded, "yes I'm wide awake." Soon to follow her response was a yawn; nevertheless, she stayed up during the remainder of the performance. Beside that small inconvenience, there was a lot of laughter coming from the audience! People were truly enjoying themselves and were deeply drawn into the performance.
 
  At the end of the play another audience member exclaimed, "They're really good. These kids are good, really cute!" This was noteworthy because the crowd was so enthusiastic and truly commended Frostburg's amazing performers. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was a performance full of life, laughter, and sophistication. Frostburg students did a magnificent job and executed Mark Twain's vision in such a great way.
 
  My only criticism about the entire performance was how the stage crew handled preparing for the next scene. I understand it becomes a little difficult when rearranging furniture but I wish there was another way of doing it so that the audience would not be able to see. I felt as though it was a distraction due to the loud commotion and the fact I could actually see the crew moving things around. If there was a way to make it seem as if no one was there and the stage was already set in its proper way, I think it would make the performance run a little smoother. Other than that, I believe the performance was done very well and I would recommend anyone to attend any of Frostburg's performances. You will not regret it!

For more information on Frostburg's performance of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer click here