The Drama III/IV class will hold their student production on Tuesday May 23, 2023 in the performing arts center.
Since drama teacher, Bary Woodruff, took over the drama department, student productions have become an integral part of advanced drama classes. Previous years’ shows have included “Check Please/Emotional Baggage” (2022), “An Explosive Evening of Theatre” (2018), and “Off Track!” (2016). For these shows, students in the class must assign production roles, pick a show, cast classmates, come up with stage blocking, choose costumes and props, act and memorize lines, and finally, direct and produce the performance.
Isabella Wynne, a senior Drama III student and director of this year’s student production, excitedly explains the bizarre yet fun contents of this year’s show.
“The first act is called ‘Teachers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,’” Wynne said. “It is about teachers who are going crazy, and they have disrespectful students.”
Like many previous student productions, this show consists of two one act plays. Bradley Hayward authored both acts of this year’s show. The two shows take place in similar school settings so there is a sense of continuity despite the characters being different.
“The second act is ‘Conversation Therapy,’” Wynne said. “That is about a bunch of students with a really wacky teacher; think Miss Frizz type.”
The first act has an equal number of teacher characters and student characters and centers more around each of the teachers. Contrastingly, the second act has nine student characters and only one teacher character. The cast for each show has the same actors, each playing a different role than previously. Wynne describes one of her favorite characters in “Teachers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
“[There is a] tyrant geometry teacher,” Wynne said.
Wynne wants to make all the production aspects meet the characters’ fun and eccentric natures.
“All the lighting design, all of the set design, everything is completely done by us,” Wynne said. “We have a limited variety of things that we can do with the set.”
Besides the reasons evidenced by Wynne’s description of how the show came together, she hopes to see the local community show up to support the actors, production team, and drama program.
“I’m really proud of all the work that everybody has put into it,” Wynne said. “I’m just happy to be part of it.”
