The Heathers. Photo by Stoo Metz
From the time she was in elementary school Jill Wishart has been a fan of the 1989 cult classic film Heathers, directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, and Shannen Doherty. Now she is playing Heather Duke in YPCo’s production of Heathers: The Musical Teen Edition, which plays at Neptune’s Scotiabank Studio Theatre until October 27th, 2024. I sat down with Wishart, and fellow Heathers Nadia Tonen and Ella Murphy, and Nelanga Mtshali, who plays Martha, to chat about how they are bringing these iconic characters to life on stage.
In elementary school Wishart went through a phase where she loved “chick-flick” films. She watched Clueless (1995), Legally Blonde (2001), and Mean Girls (2011), but Heathers was her favourite. “It was a lot darker and that really intrigued me,” she says. Screenwriter Daniel Waters wrote the film script in response to the preppier and more aspirational teen movies of the time, especially John Hughes’ Brat Pack films.
The Neptune Theatre School Youth Performance Company (YPCo) is an intensive training program for students between the ages of twelve and eighteen, so Wishart, Tonen, Murphy, and Mtshali are all playing characters around their own ages. Wishart got her start acting when she was five years old doing summer camps, Tonen, who cites her mother (talent agent Ciel Crosby) as an influence, played Bethany on Mr. D as child, Murphy started out doing theatre camps and singing, and Mtshali also started out singing and then performing in school plays.
As the three Heathers Wishart, Tonen, and Murphy are playing, arguably, the OG Mean Girls. Tonen plays Heather Chandler who she describes as “the Queen Bee of the school” saying “she’s very sought after. People look up to her and she’s… the ringleader of the Heathers.” Wishart plays Heather Duke, who she characterizes as “very insecure, very jealous, a follower rather than a leader,” and Murphy plays Heather McNamara who she calls “the sweetie pie of the three,” but she stresses that she still has “the mean girl attitude.” “She is very much a follower,” she adds, “Whoever is in charge, she just switches between them.” Mtshali, in contrast, plays Martha Dunnstock who she says is “the opposite of the Heathers. She’s sort of a loner, but she’s very happy, and I’d say she’s quite dorky as well. Despite all the bullying that she goes through, she always tries to keep a happy demeanour, and she always sees the best in everyone.”
To say that there is an upset that happens within this clique at Westerberg High School in 1989 Sherwood, Ohio by classmates Veronica Sawyer (Olivia Gouthro) and J.D. Dean (Tennessee Toombs) is an understatement. The social hierarchy of the school is turned upside down by drastic measures that I think felt more pointedly absurd when the film was being written than they do today.
For Wishart, Tonen, Murphy, and Mtshali part of the fun is imagining themselves living in 1989, a time, they note, when their parents were young.
“I think just the culture and environment, it’s all different back then, so to try to drop yourself in that time period is so challenging, but also exciting,” says Tonen, “The hair helps, the outfits help, the makeup helps, but seeing it all come together, especially over the past couple of days, has been so helpful… because it makes me feel like I’m really embodying the character.” “I really like the acting perspective of it,” says Murphy, “because it’s all classic mean people… instead of cyberbullying or being on your phone.” She notes that it has been fun to play with how teenagers interacted differently with one another in school and in person before social media existed.
Waters apparently invented a lot of the slang the teenagers use in the film, feeling that adhering too close to specific 1980s vernacular would make the film feel dated. Regardless, the cast of Heathers at Neptune have been having a fun time sorting out what their lines mean.
“For me I have a line that says, ‘Wave bye-bye to Red Dawn here and let’s motor,” says Tonen, ” and… I still feel like I can’t comprehend it. Red Dawn, from what I’m understanding, is a movie about old Western-y vibes, so I guess I’m saying, ‘this friggin’ cowboy freak weirdo’ and then ‘Let’s motor?’ You don’t hear people say that anymore.”
The most fun aspect of YPCo and this show, though, for these four young performers has been meeting new friends and working together as an ensemble. “I really enjoy the process of getting the music and learning it as a group,” says Mtshali. “I feel like even though we had a short rehearsal period we got really close and bonded as a team really fast,” says Tonen, “so, I feel like just having time in the dressing rooms, doing our makeup together, in the wings in our costumes, we’re all so excited- all the nerves and everything- it feels so special to me.”
It’s so nice to know that out of a musical about teenagers literally torturing one another for kicks in reality these young performers’ experience in YPCo is rooted in kindness, camaraderie, and their shared love of the theatre.
YPCo’s production of Heathers: The Musical: Teen Edition plays at the Neptune Theatre’s Scotiabank Studio Theatre (1589 Argyle Street, Halifax) until October 27th, 2024. The show is almost entirely sold-out! Check for tickets online here, or call the Box Office at 902.429.7070 or visit in person on Argyle Street. Please be aware that this show is Recommended for ages 13+.
Please note: this show contains: coarse language, gun violence, suicide, physical violence, attempted sexual assault, abuse in a romantic relationship, and haze.
Run Time: approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes (including intermission).
