Play excites, revisits turbulent Richmond

The drama department presented a lively and exciting performance that celebrated the city of Richmond and its residents May 4 through Saturday at the Knox Center.

Written by drama department Chairman Clay David and directed by professor Kathryn McCarty, "Rockin' in Richmond High 1966" was a grand musical experience.

The musical followed the lives of 14 seniors attending Richmond High School in 1966. The issues of marriage, the Vietnam War draft and the student graduation were the main themes of the plot.

The play was narrated by 71-year-old Odetta Jones, the first Bay Area disc jockey and a former Richmond High School counselor who worked at the school in 1966.

She narrates the students' journey through this critical time in history. Jones, herself, spent time protesting during the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in 1964 and found it important for her students to be engaged in the politics of their time.

The students in the play go to Berkeley and witness the protests and activists of the time.

The underlying theme of the play seemed to place importance on informing the audience about life in Richmond during 1966, because it was not the same of Berkeley or New York City.

There was a much different face to Richmond at that time.

From the beginning of the play, character development was very strong. The actors' expressions and personalities came out through the musical.

Miranda Romero fully immersed herself in her character, Pinky Tuscuderro, a pompous, but loving, young woman. Her love and despair at her senior ball when she finds out her sweetheart, Rocko Romero, played by Jacob Manib, is being drafted into the Army to go to Vietnam made audience members feel as if this couple, along with the other seven couples, were truly high school sweethearts in love.

The musical cues throughout the play were used efficiently and not overdone.

The musical acts were engaging, from the actors' eye contact with the crowd to their vocal range, and the volume made the singing parts easy to hear and follow.

The lighting remained a largely important tool in being able to tell apart the different scenes that were happening on stage as they would otherwise be confusing for the audience to follow.

And the actors did a great job acting out scenes with their body language.

Due to the lack of a set or props available on stage, actors had to rely on their performance to make the storylines believable.

David's use of costumes was exceptional at representing the style of dress for high school students in the 1960s.

The choreography was simple, yet engaging, to the audience.

At times the actors stumbled and bounced into each other, but these mistakes seemed to happen because of the large number of actors on stage  rather than their ability to remember their assigned places and actions.

David's play, "Rockin' in Richmond High 1966," was a unique and captivating experience.

The only complaint was the length of the musical.

With an overall longer stage performance, the play could have been stronger, since there would have been more time to connect with the audience.

However, it was another interesting and rare play put together by David.