Hillsdale’s Tower Players performed their first show of the fall semester on Oct. 1, a pairing of the anonymous medieval play “Everyman” with “I’m Not a Mourning Person,” written by Hillsdale alumna Emily Griffith ’25.

Griffith won last year’s student playwriting competition. Professor of Theater James Brandon said he picked her play to go along with “Everyman” after noticing the similarities between the themes of the two pieces. 

“Being in the zone for ‘Everyman’ and then hearing that script read at the staged reading — it was the perfect complement,” Brandon said. “It gives us a medieval and then also a contemporary approach to pretty much the same subject.” 

Both plays present a story of death and grief, according to senior Rachel Dunphey, the lead actress in “I’m Not a Mourning Person.”

“The medieval one, ‘Everyman,’ deals with death as if you’re the person dying — how to die well,” Dunphey said. “Whereas ‘I’m Not a Mourning Person’ handles coming to terms with death of loved ones, and being the one living and grieving.” 

Junior Peter Gilchrist, who plays opposite Dunphey in “I’m Not a Mourning Person,” fleshed out the plot lines of both plays. 

“‘Everyman’ is about a man who is told that he is going to die, and he panics trying to find things and ways to give an account of himself to God at his death,” Gilchrist said. “‘I’m Not a Mourning Person’ is the second act of the play. It’s a completely different play, but we’re putting them next to each other because ‘I’m Not a Mourning Person’ is about grief. It’s about the people who were left behind.” 

Dunphey said acting through grief authentically was one of the most difficult aspects of her role.

“When you’re portraying grief, you want to do justice to it because that is a very personal emotion,” Dunphey said. “It’s something we all experience, but it’s also so unique to the individual.” 

Jillian Bober, a junior who attended opening night, said she was very impressed with the dedication of the actors involved. 

“Rachel did a great job; she was so captivating in the different ways that her character was dealing with her grief,” Bober said. “Also, shout-out to Karol. He was awesome. And all the smaller characters that didn’t have a ton of lines really brought the play to life so well and made it all work together.”