Excerpt from the original play:
This is a play about hope and the future.
It’s about whether it’s possible to have hope when everything is moving so fast. When everything is chaos.
It’s about the moments in your life when you realize how complex the world is. How scary it is. How little control you have – even though for your entire life everyone’s been telling you that it’s all down to you.
It’s about all the things we tell children about the future. And all the things that we don’t.
From Nov. 21 to 23, the Pascack Regional High School Theatre brought audiences a show to remember—a collaboration between the talents of the Pascack Hills Players and Pascack Valley High School Theatre who performed When This is Over. The decision to unite the two theatre programs was met with mixed reactions, causing both excitement and apprehension as students, staff, and the community wondered how this major project would unfold.
While the auditorium at Pascack Hills is being renovated, the Pascack Players were welcomed to merge with Valley’s theatre program. Hills actor, Owen Baskin commented on the merge.
“It’s been a bit challenging getting to Valley every day, but I’ve met a lot of great people along the way, and I couldn’t be happier to be with the Valley kids this year and to be with them again next year in 2025,” he said.
Another Hills actor and freshman, Fiana Fitzgerald, described her experience as someone new to Hills and even newer to Pascack Theatre.
“They gave us a van, which is nice because it takes us there, but it can get short on seats sometimes, so at times it has to make two trips, [and] getting there can be difficult, especially if you’re late. But besides that, the auditorium is basically the same as ours was, so it’s not too big of a difference,” she said.
Preparations for the play began in the first week of school. Freshly out of the summer, the Pascack Regional High School Theatre was eager to get started and begin creating the play.
With the script originally crafted by Ned Glasier, Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, and Company Three in 2022, alongside more than fifty youth theatres in the UK, Pascack Regional Theatre directors–Merielle and Tom Lupfer–transformed it into a version that resonated with the Hills and Valley cast. The initial version follows the story of five teenagers and their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for Pascack Regional Theatre students, their experiences “and all that came before and happened since” were wholly different, according to a word from the directors. This new version was created with the input of nearly forty students aged fourteen to eighteen.
When This is Over tells a story about uncertainty, possibility, and whether it’s possible to return to normal. The Pascack Theatre shared their own stories on stage, some more emotional, while others were hilarious or empowering. The concept took audience members on a journey, showing that hope is near, even during difficult times.
When asked about the play’s contents, Fitzgerald stated, “The play is about ours, the cast’s lives, and the journey of life from birth to death…” she said.
Baskin shared similar sentiments. “It’s hard to describe what the play [is about]…It’s, it’s about many things. It’s about growing up, it’s about being with people. It’s about connections, you have to watch it to find out,” he said.
This play could not have been done without the help of the amazing and diverse cast. Cast members included a mix of Hills and Valley students who all played themselves.
Baskin played the character of a storyteller and Fitzgerald was an artist. In the storyteller position, Baskin communicated the story through speech and dialogue, while Fitzgerald conveyed the story through her body language and movements.
When asked about her favorite part of the play, Fitzgerald said, “Definitely performing it, I think [that] was the most fun part.”
