Director's Note
Hello and welcome to Phamaly’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee! I first saw this show at a small community theatre in Des Moines, Iowa and to be honest…I didn’t get it. Sure it was sweet and there were some good laughs, but it didn’t make sense how a show about a Spelling Bee could receive such critical acclaim and be one of the most produced shows since 2005. Despite this, it was a show that was consistently asked for by our company of actors and I’ve learned that when actors are desperate for a show, it’s best to trust them. I picked up this script again and realized just how much heart that I had missed when I first saw it in 2005.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a show about forming community in a space where competition is the expectation. Throughout the play, we see the adults constantly push the children to be the best, the brightest, the winners…the kids discover something else. As the competition becomes fiercer and fiercer to the audience, it becomes less and less important to the kids. Without realizing it, the children create a community in a space where individualism is supposed to be the goal.
Right now, we live in a time that is so divided. It seems like we are constantly pitted against each other in terms of our ideology. Spelling Bee is a play about radical love in a time where radical hate is the norm. As we all approach this space, let’s constantly remember the community that is shared between these charming weirdos.
Ben Raanan
Director of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Artistic Director of Phamaly Theatre Company
