Playmakers a Year Post Surge

Stephen Ardois, Brecken Sauthoff, and Lilly Hampton performing in Surge: The Last Wave, on March 1, 2025. “Surge will always hold a special place in my heart. That show meant so much to me. It helped me through an impossibly hard time in my life, not to mention the lasting friendships and amazing experiences that were formed along the way,” said Ardois.

Photo Creds: Charlie Stumb

Chloe Greer, Photo Essay Desk Lead

During the fall semester of the 2024-25 school year, the Pioneer Playmakers worked tirelessly to create their fall play, which they would perform at the North Carolina Theater Conference in November. Nearing the end of September, Playmakers had finally decided on their plot and left the classroom cheering, “We have a show!”

3 days later, tragedy struck the mountains of North Carolina. Hurricane Helene ripped through the state, destroying everything in her path. The Playmakers met on a video call about a week after the storm hit. They knew, as they met on this call, that they had a new show to work on. ‘Surge’ was created in 28 days leading up to its competition.

 After winning both their Regional and State competitions, the Playmakers traveled to Baltimore this past March to the Southeastern Theater Conference to perform their show one last time in their national competition. After a year of success with “Surge,” the Pioneer Playmakers have now shifted gears.  With 5 of the 2024-25 Playmakers graduating, 7 new members were added to the 2025-26 ensemble. This group has been working tirelessly since July to create a new story to bring to their competition on November 8. 

While the new work is keeping the Playmakers excitedly busy, returning Playmakers are having to shift their focus from the play that they put so much effort into. Kellz Donnelly, a senior at Watauga and a second-year Playmaker, finds it hard to believe that ‘Surge’ took place nearly a year ago.

“It’s honestly kind of surreal. It feels like just last week we were all singing ‘Down to the River’ for the first time and carrying people on boards,” Donnelly said, while reminiscing on the whirlwind that was the show.  “‘Surge’ was such a big part of the ensemble then and even some of us now, so it’s weird to think about how long it’s been.”

Clara Lappan, a senior and second-year Playmaker, has noticed that ‘Surge’ has taken a while to properly exit the atmosphere of the Pioneer Playmaker’s classroom. Lappan speaks on how ‘Surge’ being such an impactful, emotional piece is hard to move on from when it was relevant for so long.

“Honestly, ‘Surge’ is still actively in the process of slowly fading out of the relevance of my life, and when I'm not thinking about it, it doesn't feel strange at all,” Lappan said. “But sitting down and thinking about it, and going through old footage just for fun, I've realized that my point of view when thinking about ‘Surge’ has gone from that of someone involved in the project to someone spectating, taking it in as an onlooker. And knowing that I was once so actively involved, but will inevitably forget what that experience felt like, it does hurt. So, I miss it, but at the same time, it's taking its sweet time leaving me.”

Rowan Tait, a graduated Playmaker, played a large role in helping create “Surge.” Now that Tait is in college, he has left his theater journey at Watauga. After the success, Tait is finding new ways to continue growing in other areas of life, while understanding that the success of “Surge” was a little different.

“I just try to appreciate the past and know that I did that and that was a great thing, but that not all my stuff every day can be the same process, and my new projects are not going to be the same,” said Tait. “And it's not that they're worse. It's just that they're different, and it's a very different thing. I think it can be hard sometimes to distinguish between just being different and not being as good.”

“Surge” brought so many “mitzvahs”----a frequent reminder from theater teacher Sarah Miller-- into the lives of the Playmakers. And while such triumph from tragedy was something that every Playmaker was grateful for, it is time to move on and look forward to all of the new adventures that this year will bring.

In case you never had the opportunity to experience “Surge,” and you are interested in doing so, below are two links. The first is to the Pioneer Playmakers' last encore performance of “Surge: The Last Wave” on March 1, 2025. The second is a link to a documentary titled “Long Way Down” by Mr. Robert Kinlaw. The documentary provides more context to the entire journey of “Surge,” from the writing process to the final performance in Baltimore.

“Surge: The Last Wave” Full Performance

“A Long Way Down” Documentary