The Lightning Thief — Photos
Poster Design and Photos by Siena Maxwell
The Lightning Thief — Videos
Videos by Daniella Ignacio
Performance Highlights
My Grand Plan
The Lightning Thief — Director's Note
Last summer, I had two important things happen. First, Mike Schubert, longtime host of podcasts I enjoy, started his podcast The Newest Olympian, where he reads the Percy Jackson books for the first time as an adult. As someone who read the books way back in middle school, this was the push that I needed to pick the series up again. I immediately fell in love with the characters and the universe, and within 6 months, I tore through the original Percy Jackson series, The Heroes of Olympus, and The Trials of Apollo (my absolute favorite — if you only read one Riordan series, make it that one). Second, at the ripe old age of 23, I was diagnosed with ADHD. For me, the diagnosis was a lot like figuring out the theme of the Sunday crossword: it doesn’t give you all the answers, but it makes a whole lot of things fall into place. Both of these elements together meant that The Lightning Thief was high on my list of shows to direct.
And what a perfect show for Wildwood Summer Theatre to do. The Lightning Thief celebrates young people finding strength in themselves, rejecting the unfair rules and corrupt systems holding them back, and taking their fate into their own hands. For WST, a theatre company founded in 1965 by a group of high schoolers, and which has continued to be run entirely by young people (ages 14–25) for the past 57 years, I can’t think of a better show to make our return to in-person theatre.
And from the audience standpoint, I believe The Lightning Thief provides an antidote to some of the hardships of the past several years. It tells us that there is immense power in empathy and kindness — far more than there is in apathy. It tells us that, in a world that’s trying to tear you apart, finding strength and joy is a radical act. And it tells us that we are more capable and powerful than we believe ourselves to be.
I’ve given a lot of the big ideas and concepts of the show in this note, and of course, those are all meaningful and have been a big part of shaping this production. But ultimately, my goal with this show is a simple one. In the end, I hope that you come away from this show with a smile, and at least a little bit of hope for the future. Enjoy the show, and we’ll be back next summer.
Mercedes Blankenship
Director
The Lightning Thief — Press
Named as one of the DCTA 2022 Staff Favorites for Outstanding Community Productions
and Outstanding Community Performances (Ensemble & Collaboration)
"...The Lightning Thief‘s team did an impressive job of crafting a full-length musical. Director Mercedes Blankenship put together a cohesive show that moved energetically."
—Nicole Hertvik, DC Theatre Arts
"The purpose of theater has been debated throughout history. Is it meant to be thought-provoking? Is it meant to entertain? Should its goal be to bring people together? There will never be a concrete answer to this debate. However, within minutes of walking into Wildwood Summer Theater’s (WST) production of The Lightning Thief, you know what their answer to this debate is: community."
"The cast and crew clearly spent a through amount of time considering the impact this series has made and how they wish their performance to influence their audiences. Adaptations are being made all the time, but what distinguishes this production from the rest is the joy and commitment from the cast and crew. Percy Jackson has touched the hearts of young adults who grew up with it, and now that love can be passed on to the next generation."
—Taryn Carone, MD Theatre Guide
But wait, there's more!
A couple of months after The Lightning Thief closed, Daniella Ignacio, my friend and the Associate Dramaturg on the production, wrote a beautiful reflection/retrospective for DC Theatre Arts about the production, the representation of ADHD and neurodivergence in Percy Jackson, and the importance of Young Adult Theatre, among other things. Below, I've included some of my favorite bits from that piece. But truth be told, you should definitely read the entire thing, because it's wonderful.
"Young Adult Theater matters because these stories speak directly to young people in an empowering way...When adults don’t make it possible, we take matters into our own hands. That is why companies like Wildwood Summer Theatre exist. Our production of The Lightning Thief was perhaps the closest to fully realizing this story’s mission that any theater can achieve, since young people between the ages of 14 and 25 were at the helm onstage, behind the scenes, and on the board."
Wildwood approached its production of The Lightning Thief with a spirit of 'it looks like teens went into a barn and put on a show': intentionally designed costumes, props and sets with references to the PJO series, and Greek mythology galore. All designed by young people who loved this series while we were growing up. […] All of this was possible because Wildwood is a youth-run theater."
"At the first rehearsal, our director Mercedes Blankenship introduced The Lightning Thief as a story about a kid trying his best with what he’s been given. The kids in The Lightning Thief want to be heard and cared about and the Gods won’t listen, so the kids take their lives into their own hands and find strength and joy in a world that wants to tear them apart. The story addresses parental neglect, kids who are made to feel like problems because of who they are, and the empowerment to rise above it."
"This is all to say: Lift up new voices in theater and don’t disparage them just because they’re young. When you give young people the space to be in charge, mistakes are bound to happen, but the point is that you learn and grow through them.
It’s all the more impactful when you grow by telling these stories about growing up."
—Daniella Ignacio, DC Theatre Arts
Production Credits
Producer: Katie Peacock
Director: Mercedes Blankenship
Music Director: Ginny Moses
Choreographer: Katie Quinn
Fight Choreographer: Kiefer Cure
Rehearsal Stage Manager: Emily Shpiece
Production Stage Manager: Ellen Mitchell
Technical Director: Andrew McMichael
Scenic Designer: Mairead Canning
Costume Designer: Delaney Gregg
Lighting Designer: Erin Sanders
Props Designer: Kelly Gentilo
Sound Designer: Michael Roll
Dramaturg: Ileana Blustein
Photos & Graphics: Siena Maxwell
