Interacting

Poised on the trademark black box stage in the middle of Saturday’s farmer’s market, a brunette, a blond and a red-head were in the eleventh hour of a wrathful conflict. Frozen in the throes of fury, a coin dropped in a basket at the crucial moment and the women embraced in a tenuous show of faked affection.\nIt must be Living Statues season. \nThese young women, all acting students at Bloomington High School North, were acting out the seven deadly sins.\nFor the past six years, students in Francesca Sobrer’s advanced theater class have taken their skills to the streets to “inter-act” at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, at 401 N. Morton St. \nSome of Sobrer’s students are part of a troupe of 14 Bloomington North actors that will be traveling to a theater festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, to perform the Bloomington North production, “Dancers in the Dust.” \nThe pressure for this year’s Living Statues actors is to help raise $110,000 for the Scotland trip. \nStationed around the market, their mission is to stay in character despite distraction. When a tip is thrown into their basket, the actors come to life. All tips thrown to the actors during performance will go to fund the trip to Scotland.\nThis work is not for the weak.\nSobrer has her students prepare for the public acting by performing exercises that require them to stand still for up to 10 minutes. Mastering the illusion of being virtually frozen in action is one of the primary rules of acting in a public forum, making the farmers’ market gig a crucial learning tool for students. \nFelicia Adamson, an actor this year and last, said Saturday’s blazing sun was easier to work in than last year’s weather.\n“Last year it was freezing and raining,” Adamson said. \nAdamson and her partners, Sophie Krahnke and Jenn Stumpner, performed as the Macbeth witches just outside the arboretum of Showers Plaza.\n“You feel accomplished,” Stumpner said.\nDown the main aisle of the market, puppeteer Will Bray mastered the strings of his two marionettes. Dressed in gingham and candy stripes, the girl and boy marionettes waltzed until their master moved them to shake hands with members of the audience. \nPuppeteer Will Bray and the marionettes, Ethan Philbeck and Miranda Gregory, did their best to stay focused.\n“I thought tipping with a bunch of pennies would make them move constantly, defeating the purpose of being still,” said Sierra Kinney, a Bloomington North junior. Despite the teasing, Kinney’s friend respected the actor’s dedication.\n“They never break character,” said Rosalyn Sternberg, a Bloomington High School South junior.