A story of a girl fighting for her life
Rinse, Repeat
is a sad, yet compelling tale of a girl and her unhealthy eating habits. DBHS drama teacher and thespians club advisor Nelly Torres put on a phenomenal play about a girl who goes home to her family for a trial weekend from a treatment center. She comes home to an incredibly overbearing mother, a cowardly father who does not stand up for her daughter, and a brother with resentment.
This play originated from the young mind of Domenica Feraud, a 28-year-old playwright who used her own experiences and struggles to create the masterpiece Rinse, Repeat. The theme of this play is family, independence, and the fight for inner peace and acceptance. It takes place in modern-day America. So, many of the students at Deerfield Beach High School may find themselves fond of it.
The main character of this play is a girl named Rachel. She is portrayed by DBHS senior, Amy Portales. Rachel ultimately succeeds in her quest to follow her interests rather than becoming the lawyer her parents want her to be. She proficiently takes the initiative for herself but ends up returning to the treatment center.
The procedure of directing a play from start to finish with costumes, set designs, and lots of practice takes time and effort. Plenty of people are needed to put it together. When everyone focuses on teamwork, people can accomplish great feats like the production of this play.
“The process was very internal. I directed them to dig deep and allow themselves to freely be vulnerable onstage. Without the unapologetic vulnerability, this show would have never worked. We worked 70 hours (about 3 days) a week on this play and did intense inner work for the sake of honoring the characters to drive their performance,” said DBHS drama teacher Nelly Torres.
Students who are identified as Angel Santiago, Luca Sarmento, Trevor Mellinger, Amy Portales, and Rebecca Ainer with the wise instruction from their mentor, got to feel their parts and work with that emotion for such a delicate topic like destructive eating habits. Putting on plays consists of hard work, time, and patience for it to work and it paid off.
“The hardest part was getting my actors to free themselves through this play. The set was stressful but came out beautifully. There is always stress with production, but only high standards are accepted and that is exactly what we accomplished,” said Torres.
Producing a play is exceptionally difficult, however, being in a play is a tough job as well. For Amy Portales, it was just that. Though, it did not stop her from putting on a show.
“Being the lead means you have a lot of responsibilities because without you the show would be gone. I definitely felt the pressure, but it was not as hard because it is my third time being in a lead role. I knew I wanted to be part of something other than a comedy so when this opportunity came around, I had to do it,” said Portales.
While performing in a play such as this, it is easy to get lost in the sauce and begin to feel the character. In this particular play, it can be a bit stressful to deal with; Proficient advice from Nelly Torres helped the actors use different methods as a way to pull emotion and make the audience feel what the character was feeling at that moment. This made the play a huge success.
“There is a fine line between me and Rachel, so playing her felt very me. If anything, it got hard because I had to detach myself a little from Rachel so I could keep doing it in a good mental place. Torres is amazing. I’ve had her all four years of high school. I was one of her first students as well, so it feels like we’ve been kind of growing together. I love her so so much, she’s a dear friend and an amazing teacher,” said Portales.
All in all, the play Rinse, Repeat is a sorrowful and engrossing tale of a girl and her struggle to fight for inner peace and acceptance. It was a genuine work of art that brought awareness and was a teaching tool used to show the other side of mental health struggles at Deerfield Beach High School.
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