Attention drama lovers: Five unique short plays, The Lady or the Tiger, Boy Meets Girl: A Young Love Story, Check Please, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Aliens vs. Cheerleaders have all been gathered together in the theatre department’s winter production, A Student Director’s Showcase. All five plays are being directed by theatre students themselves with the help of sponsors Mr. Joshua Schneider, Mr. Robert Sparks, and Mr. Joshua Gresko.
The five student directors are juniors Anna Gorenflo, Jeffrey Thompson, and Rebecca Loiacono, and seniors Megan Sadler and Samantha Wadsworth. This is a change in that there have never been this many student directors in charge of one show. “The show is split into five different shows directed by five different student directors. So it’s very diverse and fun,” said Sophomore Christopher Skarin.
“Since this time there are five people directing, it should turn out excellent,” said senior Sarah Damario. In November, the theatre department performed Mere Mortals, another production of five one-act plays, giving the student directors experience with the form.
The job of director brings difficulties along with perks. “There is a bit of a pinch of time since I’m In charge of props along with directing a play (The Legend of the Sleeping Hollow),” said Sadler. “It helps me do a better job with the props having this deeper understanding of the play itself.”
Two plays: The Lady or the Tiger and Aliens vs. Cheerleaders are exclusively produced and performed by students in the Theatre II and Advanced Acting classes, who are working very closely together. The other three plays are being produced by the after-school theatre club.
Though the students are working equally hard to produce quality work, they naturally have their personal favorites. “I like Check Please and Boy Meets Girl, because I just think they’re very funny and, overall, done very well,” said junior head of makeup Grace Headley. Wadsworth has a personal favorite for a different reason: “My favorite production would probably be Sleepy Hollow, because it’s the type of play that I love, a creepy adventure.”
The Showcase will be on February 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. and on February 3 at 2 p.m. in the Mary Harrison Center. In April, the theatre department will perform their spring musical, HONK, a story about an ugly duckling.
–Manuel Imel and Christian Harrison, The Patriot Press