‘Scooter Thomas:’ On death and nostalgia
What if the death of a loved one offered the chance to reminisce on joys and trials of the past? I imagine him, Death, standing there, my friend in arm, allowing me to glance back into the memories we’ve shared, the things we’ve done: times of laughter and times of anger — of course, men would never admit crying together.
We might play out the time we both got lost in the woods, or the time one convinced the other to ride a roller coaster for the first time. We’d probably share in our loves — the way I had a crush on Ashley while my friend was the one “dating’” her, if that’s what you call a two-week middle school relationship.
Peter Parnell’s play, “Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World” offers the chance to witness what such an interaction might look like. The performance, led by student directors Anna Walker and George Labusohr, portrays the friendship between two characters growing up in the ’60s and ’70s.
Right from the beginning of the play, Dennis Wright, played by fourth-year student Chris Mayers, finds out one of his childhood friends, Scooter Thomas, played by third-year student Ian Mather, has passed away before reaching the age of 30 in an accident while hiking a mountain. Wright finds himself distraught over the death, scrambling to prepare for a funeral for a friend whom he had lost connection with after going on to college. However, in some bizarre manner, Wright is allowed to relive the events of their past, and to see what caused the deep separation in the first place.
Throughout the show, with Wright and Thomas as the only characters, the two act out vignettes of their past, giving small snapshots of growing up in public school, and the pain of splitting apart after graduation. Even with references not so relevant to culture today, the play accurately portrays the naivety, innocence, and playfulness of young students within a world of bullies, maniacal gym teachers, and principals who have their best interests in mind.
The show leaves viewers with two notions about death. The first, for people who have experienced the loss of someone very close, allows the audience a unique opportunity to connect to their own Scooter Thomas, someone who disappeared before they should have, before having the chance to rekindle a friendship gone for too long. The second, and perhaps the most powerful experience, forces one to reconsider the Scooter Thomas’ in one’s life currently, and how to appreciate the moments they’ve shared and what that looks like in the future. It allows the chance to reconnect, before Death himself makes that impossible.
“Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World” is showing Thursday, April 25, at 8 p.m. and Friday, April 26 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. free of charge at City Church Savannah, 125 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
