In the world of the theatre, the term “breaking the fourth wall” describes what happens when an actor breaks the barrier between herself and the audience.  

In this world of the theatre, there are two spheres behind the curtain as well: the actors and the people that put the show together.  In most shows, there is a clear distinction between these jobs, but one Glen Rock student decided to blur this line.

Madison Jones did not just act in this year’s fall production, but she was a lead.  And she was not just the lead, but she was also the assistant director.

Jones assistant directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and portrayed one of the two lead female roles, Hermia.

“I’ve loved every show that I’ve been in but especially this one,” Jones said with a broad smile.  “I love the Glen Rock Theatre Company.  I’ve been involved in all the shows that have taken place while I’ve been in high school.”

Though Jones is no stranger to the inner workings of the Theatre Company, this was her first time assistant directing, as the job goes to a senior who has been in the Theatre Company all four years of high school.  

Though the job is a privilege, there are a lot of responsibilities that come with it.

“Some days I had to go aside with groups of people and lead an activity with them,” Jones begins to list.  “A lot of the time I had to contact people for the show, so tell people when there was rehearsal or reach out to people to bring in props or things along those lines.”

Though the job is known to be very demanding, Jones had her eye on the position since her freshman year with the Theatre Company.  

At the end of her junior year, Jones approached the Theatre Company director and English teacher, Juliet Montalbano, regarding the assistant director position.

“Towards the end of last year, I went up to her, and I talked to her about it, and I asked her if it would be possible if I could assistant direct for this show.  And she said she would love that, so we started working for me to be assistant director this year,” Jones said.

The two have worked together on all seven shows Jones has done with the Theatre Company, and Jones has taken Montalbano’s classes for almost all of her years in high school.

Montalbano has come to know Jones very well over the past four years, and is one her biggest supporters in her theatre endeavors.

“She is very responsible and also very positive and encouraging which is probably the most important part, that she’s kind to everyone,” Montalbano said.  

Montalbano said that Jones “was always asking me what needed to get done,” and once she finished whatever job was given to her she would move on to “asking me what else needed to be done after rehearsal.”  

“It was just a dream working experience,” Montalbano said.

Once the job was hers, the real difficulty for Jones came with balancing being the lead as well.  Leads have to memorize hundreds of lines and be on stage for a majority of the show.  Jones recounts how hard it was to run back and forth from the tech table to the stage during dress rehearsals.

“The tech table is at the back of the auditorium.  That’s where all the lights and the sounds happen.  Backstage is in the choir and drama rooms,” Jones said. “Between scenes, when I wasn’t on, I would run back to the tech table and sit and take notes and talk to the director, and before I had to go on I would run through the halls to get back stage so that I could get on in time.”

Though balancing both jobs often felt like juggling for Jones, she genuinely feels privileged to have had the opportunity to be a lead and assistant direct.  In her mind, multitasking as assistant director only helped her perform.

“Acting-wise it didn’t affect me because I was there more, so I thought it just gave me more time to build into my character and see scenes that I’m not in,” Jones explains.

She felt that being at rehearsal for so long just helped her to think about what her character would be doing during certain scenes when she was not actually on stage.

Behind Jones’ drive for working as assistant director and lead actress was a true love for the theatre.  Though it was sometimes hard to manage, she truly threw herself into the experience.

“I was like blessed with this opportunity,” she said. “I mean not many people get to experience both, so I really took it and ran with it.  I just felt grateful the whole time that I got to experience it.”