What if you could live forever? That’s the dilemma that Winnie Foster faces when she learns of a hidden spring in a nearby forest that gives immortality to those who drink from it. Sephora Esperance stars in the role.
“She's been cooped up in her house for her whole life and the spring acts as a temptation for her to finally be free completely,” Esperance observed. “But that freedom does come at a cost.”
To complicate matters, Winnie becomes smitten with a boy who drank from the spring. His name is Jesse Tuck. He and his family are now immortal.
“He's very content with the circumstances and he always finds joy and he goes all around the world and sees all the things while his family is kind of upset about it,” said Lane Free, who plays Jesse.
Jesse asks Winnie to drink the water and see the world with him, but to find out what she decides, you’ll just have to see the play … or read Natalie Babbitt’s bestseller on which the play is based.
“The book is a really classic book,” Free added. “There’s so many fun characters and such a nice family atmosphere that all ages can enjoy.”
The book and the play intertwine themes of growth, connection, and moral complexity, inviting reflection on the nature of life and death.
“It's a show that makes you think, but it's also a show that makes you laugh and cry at the same time,” said Esperance. “It just really makes you look upon your own life and your own aspirations and know how fleeting it is.”
Performances are Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. For tickets, visit https://gofan.co/app/school/FL16963_1.
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In this timeless story, drinking from the spring confers immortality … but one remains the age they are forever. As members of the Tuck family reveal, living forever at one age is less a blessing than it might seem. People notice. People talk. And they must live in isolation to guard their secret. And not only must they take Winnie into their confidence and swear her to secrecy, but also a suspicious stranger is also now searching for the Tucks, and he will stop at nothing until he finds them and uncovers their secret.
"Tuck Everlasting," by Natalie Babbitt, is a thought-provoking children's novel that explores themes of immortality, freedom, and the complexities of human emotions. The narrative unfolds with a blend of fairy tale elements and intense emotional depth.
Sephora Esperance read the book when she was in sixth grade. “I remember feeling devastated, but hopeful at the same time,” she recalled.
She pointed out that Winnie’s dilemma is not just whether to drink from the spring, but whether or not to keep the spring’s existence and the Tucks’ immortality secret.
“That’s the main dilemma,” Esperance added.
While Esperance sees herself continuing to act through college and beyond, her career goal is to obtain a degree in law and establish a practice in immigration and real estate law.
She also wants to travel extensively.
“I really want to encounter people of different languages because I speak French,” she noted.
Free also expects to continue acting after high school graduation. But he plans a career in real estate, first as a salesman and eventually as a broker.
“After high school, I'm going to get my real estate license, but I still hope to audition for some professional shows here and there and continue to keep up with acting because it's always been really fun for me and I think I'm getting really good at it,” Free said.
Principal characters
- Winnie Foster: a curious girl who stumbles upon the spring and enters the Tucks’ lives, forcing them to tell their story for the first time
- Jesse Tuck: a young, carefree boy whom Winnie meets in the forest and who has not aged for 87 years
- Miles Tuck: elder brother of Jesse, who is dulled by the losses caused by his immortality
- Mae Tuck: their mother and the wife of Angus Tuck; she is a strong and loving woman who also cannot die
- Angus Tuck or Tuck: husband of Mae and father to Miles and Jesse, a wise, kind, and immortal man
- Man in the Yellow Suit: a malicious stranger to Treegap who wants to sell the spring water to the world
Cast
Sephora Esperance Winnie Foster
Lane Free Jesse Tuck
Teagan Clark Miles Tuck
Giovanna Muro Mae Tuck
Noah Rodriguez Angus Tuck
Keeva Clark Man in Yellow
Sadie Greene Granny Foster
Hailee Specht The Constable
Chorus: Emily Darmanin, Bella Eggers, Madelynn Jewell, Ainsley Judd, Kareena Kurian and Sofia Spaniel.
Crew
Stage manager Olivia Torres
Assist. Stage mgr Cheyanne Chase
Lighting Board Operators Kristen De Barros & Eleni Kaklamanis
Sound Board Operators David Ribeiro & Ayden Sammartano
Spotlight Operators Caitlin Lamon & Elaina Muro
Flyloft Eleni Kaklamanis & Rose Manzoni
Backstage Crew Amelia Barnum
Costume Crew Analeise & Mia Rieman
Publicist Taylor Hoffman
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
