Fall play just around the corner

Maya Amjadi/Staff Writer

Seniors Alex Huffman and Leah Franke practiced one part of their performance last Friday for the upcoming school play coming up next week on Thursday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 6. (Tracy Lukasiewicz Photo)

“The Brothers Grim Spectaculathon” will be showing in the high school auditorium starring over 50 students as they take the meaning of comedy to a whole new level.

Auditions were held the first week of September, and the cast members have been practicing ever since. Senior Sam Heinen said that her role as narrator has caused her to put in about 150 hours, and that doesn’t even include working on the set. “(Director Michelle) Rathe has also spent tremendous amounts of time directing us to make this show a success,” Heinen said.

Instead of starting the night with a short one-act play as done in previous years, there will just be one big play this year. Due to this, all the actors, new or old at this business are all in the play together.

“The hardest part for everyone, I would have to say, is getting used to being in the big play,” Heinen said. Since we usually have a one-act play and a full play, the people with less experience are in the one-act and can have more personal attention. This year, with only having the full play, people are being thrown into the full play and having to simply adapt to everything right off the bat instead of being able to learn the ropes in the one-act.”

Rathe said that it is the first time she has had such a large group of people who have moved from playing small parts to playing large roles. She also said that she lost some very strong leaders this year, but, “quite a few students are really starting to step it up.”

The play is about a group of poor street people putting on a street performance of fairy tales. Rathe said she chose the light-hearted comedy “so as to not completely burn out the actors before the musical which will appear on stage this spring.”

Junior Rhydian Talbot said, “I think this play is easier to understand than some of the past plays just because it is the retelling of stories that every member of the audience will connect with on some level, plus this play is extremely funny and maybe just a little bit raunchy.”

Heinen said she believes that this play has really improved her acting skills. “This play has, I think, helped everyone in training the actors to react with anything and everything going on onstage. With this play anything could happen. You really have to stay on your toes.”

Senior Leah Franke said the hardest part for her is simply memorizing all of the lines and blocking.

The excited cast members are looking for a huge success. “I don’t think there’s any really specific scene I want the audience to react to — just so long as they’re picking up on the quick humor and laughing throughout the show, I’ll feel like we actually pulled this thing off,” Talbot said.

Rathe said she hopes the audience will laugh out loud and her hope was echoed by several of the cast members.

“I think they [the audience] will see the fairy tales they grew up with quite a twist [in this production],” Heinen said. “This year’s show is full of craziness I think will receive a positive response from any audience. The scene, though, that I think will get the biggest reaction will be the Cinderella scene. It is a great finale and is hilarious to watch every time. I don’t want to give the surprise away, so people will just have to come and watch the show for themselves.”

Final dress rehearsals will be Monday and Thursday. “The cast is working really hard,” Rathe said.

There has been a change in performance dates. The play will debut Thursday, Nov. 4 and will conclude with with a last performance Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $4 for students and $5 for adults; activity passes will be accepted.

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