When eight-year-old Hansen Karlberg caught the acting bug while performing in “The Aristocats” in community theatre, he could not have anticipated his present-day teen self’s upcoming experience this weekend. The Platte County High School senior will be in the audience to watch a play he penned, performed by other high school student actors.
“Jonah!” will be performed Friday through Sunday at the Spinning Tree Theatre in Overland Park.
Karlberg’s production will be showcased alongside two others, also written by local high school students enrolled in a local non-profit’s Teen Writers Fest. His play, set in modern times, is a spin on the Bible story in which Jonah, its namesake, ends up in the belly of a whale.
In Karlberg’s version, Jonah leaves his family following an earlier fight with his father. The guitar player is determined to become a famous musician. He tells his family, which includes four sisters, that if he doesn’t return home they should assume he has become famous.
However, he reacts to the argument with his father by leaving home and not returning although he’s far from famous. He’s actually a street performer playing for donations when a sister contacts him to return home due to the death of their father. A touching family reunion follows in which Jonah learns he misunderstood his father during their disagreement.
Karlberg cut his playwrighting chops when, during his sophomore year in high school, he penned a comedy as a school assignment. “What’s Bugging You?” was about talking cockroaches, as performed in class.
The aspiring professional playwright credits his mother, Melissa Karlberg, a former high school English and journalism teacher, with encouraging him to audition for school and community plays and, finally, in a quest for a college program. He has applied for admission to “a ton of places,” all with highly rated writing programs. The University of Southern California is his “dream college,” and he has also applied at the University of Iowa, another highly-rated school.
Karlberg is unsure if he’ll seek more education beyond a bachelor’s degree.
“I’ll just see where it takes me,” he said.
Spinning Tree producing artistic director Michael Grayman-Parkhurst said while Jonah is not a musical, it represents the first time a student in the program has incorporated music into the production. While he got help from his playwright mentor, Brenda Bradshaw, who has written a musical, he said the process was “very nerve-racking (mainly due to unfamiliar software), but a fun process.”
While Grayman-Parkhurst said the students he and his partner, the executive director Andrew Grayman-Parkhurst, work with are all determined, he sees something more in Karlberg. Those attributes include “confidence, but a willingness to learn,” Michael said. “He does have a maturity beyond his years.”
Each of the three 20-minute plays will be preceded by a short video featuring the mentors who worked with each student writer: including playwrights and directors. The show will feature the performances, all by students: Karlberg’s playwright mentor is Brenda Bradshaw and his mentor director is Doug Weaver.
“If the Mask Fits” is by Mia Mondry, a Blue Valley High School senior with the playwright mentor as Vicki Vodrey and director mentor is Nedra Dixon.
“The Witch’s Apprentice” is by Amelie Barnes of Shawnee Mission South High School, whose playwright mentor is Frank Higgins and director mentor is Doug Weaver.
Performances are 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8.
The Friday and Sunday performances are American Sign Language interpreted, only part of Spinning Tree’s mission to be inclusive, which also includes admission of students “of all abilities.”
Performances will be held at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf, Overland Park.
Tickets are available at the door.
For more information, go to spinningtreetheatre.com.
