Meet Aspen Somers of LETTERS, A New Play in Centennial

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aspen Somers.

Aspen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My directorial debut has been a long time in the making. At age six, I trudged through the snow to hand out paper invites to every one of my neighbors for a Christmas concert on my back porch with me, my sister, and our elementary school’s first-grade class. We all stood in the snow and sang Christmas carols while our freezing audience listened through the screen door. At age eight, I spent all of the Spring Break directing a production of The Wizard of Oz starring Barbie as Dorothy and Polly Pockets as the Munchkins. The trampoline in my basement acted as the stage, and the production lasted eight grueling hours. At 10 I attempted to direct my friends in a production of Frozen by drawing dance steps on my driveway. Nobody came back after the first rehearsal. So when I decided I wanted to direct LETTERS, I was hopeful that my past failures (along with the fact that I was no longer in elementary school) were prepared for success. The Fetal Health Foundation is a non-profit that my mom and dad started when I was a baby. Before my twin sister and I were born, we had a condition called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Doctors didn’t think that we would both survive and even told our parents that their only options were to terminate the pregnancy or wait for us to die. Luckily, our parents found a doctor who was able to save us. However, there are a lot of families who aren’t so lucky. 200 babies die a day from Fetal Syndromes, and awareness is very low. My parents started the foundation to help families diagnosed with Fetal Syndromes find hope and get help. Writing a play about the Fetal Health Foundation has always been an idea floating around in my head. I have always believed that telling a story is the best way to create change. You can tell somebody the same thing over and over again and they never have to listen, but when you tell them a story and make them feel emotions, that is when they can’t help but listen. I really wanted to give a voice to families who have had to go through a Fetal Syndrome. So, when it was time for me to think about what I would do this summer, I felt that there was no time like the present and knew this was something I wanted to do.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have been a lot of challenges in producing LETTERS. It has by no means been an easy road; at times, it feels like the solution to one problem introduces another problem. The first problem I encountered was trying to find a performance space. Anywhere that wasn’t booked was going to be at least $1000 per performance, and I wanted tickets to be affordable, so this price just wasn’t reasonable. Luckily, I was able to find the Forum Theatre at Koelbel Library. This was a small theatre that the library provided to give opportunities to local artists. I was very grateful for the opportunity to have access to this space. The next challenge was casting. When I put out the audition notice the slots filled up quickly, but as the auditions got closer people began canceling their auditions by the handful. I was really worried that there wouldn’t be enough people to fill the cast. The first couple hours of the first day of auditions there were only four auditionees, which seemed to confirm my fears. However, as the auditions went on we ended up having a lot of auditionees! Now, I was faced with a new problem; there were too many amazing actors and not enough roles. Additionally, I was going to have to find five girls who looked alike to play the main character at different ages. Coordinating looks and heights was difficult, but I was able to cast five experienced and incredibly talented actresses. After casting the lead roles, though, I was still left with a long list of great actors and only a handful of roles. While I was excited about the cast I ended up with, there were some really deserving and talented people that I was not able to cast. It was disappointing to know that I wouldn’t be able to work with these actors, and it was hard to tell them that I wasn’t able to cast them. I didn’t want anyone to be discouraged, and I was definitely worried that I would later regret my decisions.

After casting the show came the hardest part – actors quitting. There were a variety of reasons why actors I cast couldn’t do the show, from family emergencies to problems with work. I understood that things happen and was in no way upset with the actors, but now, I was stuck with trying to find replacements, even after rehearsals started! Luckily, I was able to find a few generous people who were willing to step in. Even my dad, who hasn’t done theatre since high school, agreed to play a role when there was a last minute emergency. As rehearsals began, I began to get nervous about if people were really going to trust a 16-year-old director. I hoped that the company would listen to me and take me seriously. I strived to be as organized and professional as possible, but I knew that a lot of the actors were many years older than me. The first rehearsal was barely a success. I had chosen to block the full cast scenes that day, each of which had many moving parts and resulted in much confusion. Luckily, the cast that I had assembled were all patient, kind, and hard-working. They bore with me as I worked to re-teach everything, and the scenes ended up looking amazing! After the first rehearsal, I was definitely still nervous, but things began to go more smoothly. Fortunately, the rest of the show was less complicated than those few first scenes, and, while they might in their heads think I am stupid, the entire cast and crew act as if they trust and respect me, and nobody treats me like a child, which is a very rare experience in one’s youth. Another ongoing problem has been finances. I basically started with a budget of 0, and every dollar that I had to spend was one less dollar to go to the foundation. There have been many small expenses that really add up, such as printing programs and creating advertisements. I have been able to get a couple of sponsorships from companies, and many people have given generous donations, and I am hopeful that we will be able to get more donations as the show gets closer.

What else should our readers know?
LETTERS is a play about a young couple, Jennifer and Christopher Wilson, who are ecstatic to find out that they are pregnant, with not one, but two babies. However, their happiness is crushed when their twins are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Gabriella survives, but Isabella doesn’t. The Wilsons must learn how to overcome grief and grow closer as a family. LETTERS gives a voice to the many families who have experienced Fetal Syndromes and raises money for the Fetal Health Foundation. I am most proud of the incredible company of LETTERS. The talented cast includes actors who have performed at the Denver Center, won Henry Awards, and studied at some of the greatest acting schools. There are many things that set LETTERS apart from your average play. First of all, very rarely does one find a play written, directed, and produced by a teenage girl. Additionally, LETTERS strives to directly make a change in the world. By donating or coming to see the show, you are helping save lives. Although LETTERS definitely has its sad moments, it brings up something that is rarely seen anymore: hope. Ever since the time of Shakespeare, the majority of plays explore what is wrong with the world. These plays can be enjoyable to watch, but LETTERS finds the good in the bad: out of the tragedy of loss comes a sense of family, love, and hope.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, in my definition, requires a perfect recipe of perseverance, creativity, and a sprinkle of pixie dust. I don’t believe there are truly any markers for success. Yes, if every performance sells out and raises thousands of dollars, that would definitely be a success, but I would also consider LETTERS a success even if only one person comes to see the show. The show happened. Even if only one person sees it, that’s one person who has heard what I have to say, maybe one dollar that could help the foundation, one person whose day hopefully might be a little bit better now that they’ve seen the show. I believe that what I am doing now is something that my 10-year-old self could only dream about. This, to me, is a dream come true, and if that isn’t a success, then I don’t know what is.

Pricing:

• Companies are welcome to advertise in our program for only $15

Contact Info:

• Website: https://letterstheplay.wixsite.com/theatre
• Email: letterstheplay@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letterstheplayofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letterstheplayofficial/

Image Credit:
Marco Robinson Photo (Unedited)

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