At 7:00 p.m. on May 19, the Drama III/IV class is putting on its production of the play “Clue.” The show is student-led, with the class’s students directing, building sets, costuming and much more.
To pick what show to perform, students looked for different options and pitched them to the class. The class landed on the murder mystery comedy “Clue.”
“I think we picked it because it was fun and a murder mystery,” director and senior Jasmine Peck said. “We’ve done murder mysteries in the past at this school, and those have always been super fun and big hits.”
“Clue” is an adaptation of the 1985 movie and is based on the board game with the same name. The play focuses on six characters who are invited to a mansion for dinner and find themselves in a night of murder and blackmail.
“It’s spooky and funny and I think it properly represents the people that we have in this class,” Peck said. “Everybody shines in their own way, because everybody, every character, is so individual. But then, they all come together and solve these murders.”
Students have had to take on roles behind the scenes and learn what goes into putting on a production. Peck feels like this has taught her how many people it takes to put on a show.
“I’ve definitely learned that it takes a lot of people to do a production, and there’s so many different aspects that I’ve never worked in before or even seen,” Peck said. “We’ve all had to help with tech and finding costumes. There’s just a lot that goes into it, and you need lots of organization. That’s been really cool to see, and it’s really fun.”
Peck is one of three directors. The other two are senior Nick Serrano and junior Aviv Levy. Serrano was assistant director for one of last year’s Drama III/IV one-act shows. He feels that the directing and the rehearsal process has illustrated the capability of the student actors.
“The biggest thing that I’ve learned is that these actors are capable, and there’s a reason why we cast them,” Serrano said. “Not just because of their incredible talents, but their ability to take a job that we tell them to do and really create magic on stage.”
Junior Chloe Savage is one of the actors and crew members. The show has let her explore jobs which she doesn’t typically get to do.
“It’s been super interesting. I don’t usually get to be on tech crew and do running crew and work on lights and things like that, but I have been really into it,” Savage said. “[It] is super interesting because I made a whole track sheet, and it’s something I never get to do as an actor.”
Savage feels like the show has given her an opportunity to try something new on stage as well.
“I’ve never played a role this big in a play, so it’s been a lot of work trying to memorize all the lines and figure out all my blocking,” Savage said. “But, it’s been super fun, because I never get to play super high energy roles like this.”
Tuesday will be the only showing of the Drama III/IV show. Tickets can be purchased for five dollars through the Woodside’s Theatre Arts Club’s Instagram bio and at the door.
“We worked hard and we would love to see the Woodside support and the community come see [our show],” Serrano said. “It’s a time where you can just turn off your brain and watch a satirical comedy play about murder.”
