After losing the rights to their Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild DramaFest play just weeks before competition, Marblehead High School’s theater students regrouped, rewrote and refocused — transforming an unexpected setback into a deeply personal production.
Director and MHS English teacher Ashley Skeffington had written a 10-minute play, “The Mender,” five years ago for a festival but never developed it further.
“Back then, it was just two characters in a diner,” she said. “Over the last three months, we expanded that story to incorporate a full arc and ensemble.”
The production now features a cast and crew of nearly 30 students.
“The play spans across two generations,” Skeffington explained. “It begins as a story about three siblings trying to find their place in a deeply divided society set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Years later, their children work to break the cycles of trauma and conflict that ultimately tore their family apart.”
Skeffington continued, “It was heavily inspired by the stories of nurses in Vietnam, whose contributions often went overlooked. It’s also about sacrifice, the many different ways we define patriotism and the bond between brothers and sisters.”
MHS senior Charlie Seliger plays June Hansen, who has two brothers, Neil and Teddy.
“Neil goes off to serve in the war, and Teddy dodges the draft,” Seliger said. “Their whole relationship falls apart, and she’s kind of left alone. She decides to be a nurse in Saigon because she thinks if her brother were hurt, she’d want someone to take care of him. That’s her whole life philosophy — to be a mender.”
Seliger said the role has resonated as she prepares to leave for college.
“The role definitely has had me thinking a lot more about how I fit into my own family and the dynamics of it,” she said. “I would definitely like to be like June and bring people back together.”
Senior Lucas Rosen serves as the show’s lighting designer and student technical director. He said “The Mender” presents fun challenges.
“There are a lot of unique elements that allow for some unique lighting choices,” Rosen said. “You can play with colors to show the different time periods — the Vietnam War era and the early 2000s.”
MHS is scheduled to perform in the preliminary round of DramaFest at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Norwood High School. If selected to advance, Marblehead will compete in the DramaFest semifinals on March 14 and potentially the finals on March 28.
After the DramaFest returned from its COVID-19 hiatus, Marblehead High School advanced to the semifinals in 2022 with its production of “Macbeth,” in 2023 with “Beowulf,” and in 2024 with “The Life of the Phoenix,” with members of the cast and crew earning individual honors. Last year’s “The Sleepwalker” did not emerge from the preliminary round.
“The Mender” seems to hold special meaning for everyone involved.
“This play is about people questioning their role and identity as Americans against the backdrop of a deeply divided society … which is something I think many of us can relate to on some level,” Skeffington said. “It reinforces the idea that love of a country can mean different things to different people. It’s also about family dynamics and the courage it takes to break cycles of silence and anger.”
Seliger added, “This has been crafted with so much love. Everyone really showed up, and I think it’s going to be super evident when you see it on stage.”
A soliloquy from “The Mender” by Ashley Skeffington
“John Steinbeck once wrote that the American Dream is a vague yearning toward what we hope we may be: wise, just, compassionate and noble. Sometimes easier said than done.
The legacy of that war, and I think of any war, is one of pain and loss and separation. It is one of ordinary people forced to do things that were decidedly not ordinary. But if I have learned anything from this project, it is that we are defined by what we build from our pain.
My father taught me that we can face the future with a commitment to not repeat the mistakes of older generations. My Uncle Teddy taught me that choosing not to fight can be in itself, an act of great courage. And my Aunt June taught me that in a world that seems so determined to make people suffer, there will always be those who choose instead to heal broken bodies and hearts. Given the choice, I would want to be a mender like her. Not a saint. Not a hero. Just someone willing to stay in the room when things get messy.
Because I’ve learned that the world isn’t saved by big speeches or clean victories. It’s held together by small, stubborn acts of care. By people who show up, even when they’re tired, even when it hurts, even when the damage feels permanent. This dream, if there is one, isn’t perfection. It’s decency. It’s the decision to do a little good with the time you’re given. To listen more than you talk. To leave fewer scars behind you than the ones you inherited. I don’t know if this country will ever get it right. But I know this; choosing to mend is choosing to believe that people are worth the trouble.”
