The original musical written by our very own Ms. Melanie Guerin, The Burrow, premiered this past weekend! The Burrow is set in an underground safe haven amidst a war-torn world. The interesting part? The community is entirely children. It seems a little cult-like at times, but it’s just because they have a collectivist society: make choices for the good of the whole Burrow, not to benefit yourself. Working in harmony under the guidance of the rules left by the Guardians, the adults who created the Burrow, and Older, the oldest teen there, the kids have jobs that keep the Burrow running. The diggers ensure that no plants grow outside of the greenhouse, the gears keep the heat and electricity running, the plumbers handle the water system, the farmers grow their food, the cooks make their meals, and the watchers make sure their safe haven stays safe. Read up on your vocab, and be sure to take notes. The Fray is the war on the surface; the Circadians are the system that controls night and day in their underground home; the Bath is really a sun bath, so they don’t become vitamin D deficient; the Shaft is the path up to the surface; their Dens are their bedrooms, and the Bunker… the Bunker is their prison.
Now that the worldbuilding infodump is over, I can tell you what the musical is actually about. Our main character is Older, the leader of the burrow, who was played by Mariana Cruz-Rodriguez. Her little sister, Younger, played by Nola Schaller, grappling with confusion about what her future will be, discovers a plant in their den. This is strictly forbidden, and supposedly incredibly dangerous: the root system could destroy what the community worked so hard to build, leaving them crushed inside, or thrown into the deep end on the surface. Her sister would dig it up immediately – her sister she looks up to, who takes care of her and the entire Burrow. So, instead of destroying it, she tends to it in secret, in an odd way to be like Older. Could being a caretaker be her purpose?
As we follow Younger and her plant, as well as other happenings of the Burrow, the peace that has been upheld by following the rules for years is suddenly disturbed. Our null hypothesis: following the rules keeps the Burrow safe. Our alternative hypothesis: the Burrow kids are old enough to know how to handle danger themselves without following the rules. Just accept my attempt at last minute review for the AP Stats exam. When asked what inspired the show, Melanie said, “After I wrote [The Happiness Project], I started thinking that it would be interesting to write a show about right and wrong, and how we decide what the right thing to do is when no one is there to tell us.” To the Burrow kids, the moral thing to do is what keeps them all safe. To Older, that means always following the rules that the Guardians left – no matter what. But each kid, and their community as a whole, has to figure out what “right” means to them; that changes a lot about everything they’ve ever known. It’s about growing up. For Younger, thinking about who she might become, but also for the rest of them, deciding who they want to be, not just who others want them to be.
My favorite piece of the show was the live music from a student pit band, which featured Jes Santos on guitar, Zsian Fulton on bass, Aidan Ruiz on percussion, Ms. Tina Hadari as our music director on keyboard, and yours truly on violin.
Thank you to everyone who came out to see the show, and a huge congratulations to all the actors and my fellow musicians!
