Yucca Valley High School performs “The ‘H’ Factor,” an original musical written and directed by high school senior Joseph Hesse. Reporter Rebecca Havely attended their final dress rehearsal and offers this review…
The curtain rose on a medieval group of singing villagers hocking their wares in the town square. Their song is an original, written by musical director Teresa McClintock. I spoke with McClintock about senior Joseph Hesse, the writer of the show. She said the student had mentioned wanting to write a musical as a junior. She told him to get back with her in a year if he still felt the same way. He did, indeed, and they began their collaboration of “The ‘H’ Factor.” I spoke with Hesse as well, and asked if he had written other plays. He says he has several other plays in the works that he is writing simultaneously. Although he may choose writing as a career, he’s keeping his options open.
The townspeople in the piece are in fear of Batone, The Oppressor, played devilishly by Katelynn Bergman. She cannot stand the “song in their hearts” or “the heart in their songs.” Her plan is to cease their singing by starving them. She and her wicked sidekicks—the scruffy Mayoket and the dashing Dresdin—plot to steal the hidden supply of grain the townspeople have hidden in “a log by the bog with a hatch and a latch.”
When the scheme doesn’t go quite as planned, the local klutz, Jhon gracelessly yet humorously played by Tyler Geeson, accidentally lights the log on fire. This final straw causes the town council leader, played assuredly by Nicolas Geogea, to sentence Jhon to some training by the local hero Hannah Hampshire. She is a strapping heroine with a sword on her hip and a crest on her chest, convincingly played by Madison Curtiss. The last thing she wants to do is train a public nuisance. So she sneaks off on her mission to defeat the villainous Batone. A scribe named Rybe, played by Hannah Brooke, tells Jhon spelled J-h-o-n, not to let the townspeople make fun of his name. She also tells him that he is at a crossroads and that he must choose the path of his life.
There are 24 students from the Advanced Acting class filling all the roles in this student driven piece; with Theater Company Director Scott Phillips producing. Teresa McClintock wrote the music and designed the set with student Rachel Wuerth. The stage manager is Mackenzie Curtiss. A stand out in the chorus of villagers is Chelise Kunz as the Weaver. The cast is rounded out by a capable cast of villagers and minions.
Will the heroine Hannah defeat the Oppressor? Will Batone cease the singing? Will Jhon find the path his clumsy feet are meant to tread? Find out for yourself at Yucca Valley High School Wednesday, November 12, through Saturday, November 15, at 6 p.m. with one matinee performance at 1 p.m. Saturday November 15. Tickets are available at the door of the multipurpose room: $5 for adult, $4 for students, children 12 and under are free. Yucca Valley High School is located at 7600 Sage Avenue in Yucca Valley.
