Book-It has been a part of my life since I was seven and saw the first production of Pride & Prejudice in 2000. Through my early teens I was shy, a reader, a closeted aspiring actor. These things put together amounted to my finding the Book-It Style as a delicious, thrilling, and personal phenomenon. I went to shows not to think, but to watch and enjoy the people I saw as celebrities embodying my favorite books.
Ten years later, I now find myself as a longtime Marketing Intern for Book-It, working for my first drama teacher no less. What is more, I find that Book-It productions still influence and entertain me, but in a new way. The Cider House Rules exemplifies this; I have grown up with Book-It and what I gain from each performance I see has grown too. Seeing Cider House was one of the most intriguing and communal theatre experiences I’ve had in a long time.
While I have my opinions about abortion, learned feelings about fatherlessness, and the natural, yet still regretful, stereotypes instilled in me by pop-culture, none of this prevented me from giving myself over to the story. John Irving’s book is unique in that it builds compassion and empathy for each “side”, each character, no matter what assumptions may momentarily cloud audiences’ minds. In word alone, the production has been on my mind the past few days making me perhaps not question, but contemplate, the issues and emotions it raised.
As a reader, I can say that this production remains the most faithful, literally creating a piece of live theatre that could not be closer to words jumping off of a page. As an actor, I can say that the company of performers behind this piece is inordinately skilled, unfailingly honest, and willingly open to both the beauty and the ugliness within their characters, and by default themselves. As a college student moving across the country this fall, I’m only sorry that I will miss Part II. I would encourage everyone, teenagers and adults alike, to see this show if they can, because there is something profoundly personal and rare about a piece of theatre that allows – even invites – the audience to take from it what they will.
Emma Kelley,
Book-It Marketing Intern
