‘The Giver’ to open at Center for the Arts of Homer

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Members of all generations are working together to tell a story about embracing the pain of life, and living in the moment.

Homer Center Stages’ community production of “The Giver” opens Thursday at the Center for the Arts of Homer. The play is based on Lois Lowry’s Newbery-Award-winning book.

“The Giver” takes place in a utopia, where there is no pain or joy. The people are assigned roles in society according to their talents, and men and women are assigned to each according to how well they balance. Each family is allowed one boy and one girl; when children turn 12, they are assigned their roles in society.

Director Ty Marshal’s favorite aspect of the show is the wide range of actors in the cast, and how well they work together, he said. The cast ranges from ages 5 through 80, and has kids from three school districts.

“This show speaks to our ability or inability to feel emotion, and to experience life to its fullest, and I think that’s quite relevant these days,” Marshal said. “We only live once. Our feelings, emotions and memories, the color, the landscapes; are something we should experience to the fullest.”

“The message of the story is how we need to feel pain, and it’s important to let people know that,” said Toby Carr, 15, who plays Jonas.

When Jonas turns 12, he is assigned the special role of Receiver of Memories. He goes to work with the Giver, who keeps the memories of the world as it used to exist – memories of violence and fear, but also of joy and love. Together, Jonas and the Giver come up with a plan that will change their world forever.

Jorin Santora, a senior at McGraw High School, plays Father. He watched “The Giver” film a few hours before his audition, and cried three times, he said.

“I was like, this is so emotional and deep, and I would not be able to understand this if I watched this any earlier in my life,” Santora said.

Matthew Steele, who plays The Giver, likes getting to play the mysterious old man role, he said.

“These types of roles I tend to like,” Steele said. “To be mysterious, you can’t give too much away, and it requires a bit of extra physical work in terms of facial expressions. I kind of enjoy that.”

“I really like my role because I’m playing the average citizen,” Santora said. “A lot of the things that I do are from the perspective of the community. As Jonas learns about his environment, I am staying still. … It’s really cool – the acting choices that I’m able to make while staying regressed.”

“It’s a utopian story,” said Max Cleveland, who plays Edna. “How the author could’ve come up with such a fantastic story as ‘The Giver’ – that was the first thing that struck me.”

Her granddaughter, who is in eighth grade, is reading it in school now, she said. Rebekah Toner, who plays Mother, is a fifth-grade teacher. It’s a very popular assigned reading for students, she said.

“It’s very interesting to see it come alive with Ty’s vision,” Toner said. “It’s a different way to look at it.”

“My favorite is how we work together, and how we make it come to life, and how it’s going to be a very good play,” said 10-year-old Amelia Catalano, who plays Lily. “We mess up, and we can fix it because we’re not on stage performing right now. We’re a team. We don’t make fun of people when they are messing up or having a bad day.”

Sheila Ryan, who plays an elder, has loved seeing her castmates grow into their roles, she said.

“This is a very unique, interesting story that can be difficult for young people to grasp, and I’ve just seen them grow to understand it,” Ryan said. “They’ve been doing stuff since they were little kids, and they’ve been growing up with the program. They really have a better understanding every day.”

The show runs until Nov. 17.

“You need to understand pain,” Catalano said. “We have to have memories, and we can’t just re-live and be sad all the time.”