Cast And Crew Of Play On! Prepare For Opening Night At North High

Sets, costumes, blocking. All these things go into making a successful North High theater show. After months of hard work, students working on North High’s Play On! are making the final preparations before opening night on Oct. 25.

While their time working on this show is coming to a close, many still have something to look forward to.

“I’m really happy to see [the sets] all put together because I have to do a ton of stenciling. Since they are all laying down, I can’t see [the sets] put together, but I’m excited for when it is all put together because it’s going to look cool,“ said junior Bailey Annan.

This play will also be the first time students will use the new areas since the reconstruction.

“I’m really excited to actually use the new dressing rooms and the new space since we finally have,” said sophomore Bernadette Doray.

Rick Abbott’s Play On! is a comedy about a group of community theater actors who are struggling to put on a play.

“This play is a farce which means it is a very frenetic comedy. It is about a group of community theater actors who are trying to put on a show written by a member of their group. She is not a professional author; she keeps changing the dialogue, she keeps changing the scenes, and she keeps bringing them new pages and it’s opening night,” said drama teacher Chad Little.

While the play is supervised by Little, it is almost entirely student-led.

“The students do all the acting and the technicians do all the building. That’s what this program is about. It’s about students doing things. It’s important that they get involved so they can do their own thing. I provide the designs, but they do all the work.” said Little.

To ready the play for opening night, there are two parts of the preparation. One part is acting. To achieve what needs to be done acting-wise, students have to build their character.

“I kind of just took things that I’ve seen from various movies, shows, different things like that. I just tried to make it into my own character, but similar to what I’ve seen before,” said Doray. She plays Violet Imbry – aka “Diana Lassiter”, who is a ditzy, but loveable high-born lady.

With the actors taking care of the characters, mood, and more on the stage, behind the scenes, technicians work on building the sets, lights, sound, etc.

“In high school, you basically build the set from the ground up. You get the wood, you get power tools and everything else from there is all you. You don’t see it all as one piece until the walls are up and everything is set,” said Annan.

As the cast and crew work on the different aspects of the show, they both get to experience the warmth of the theater community. Though the play is hard work, the cast and crew feel a sense of community as they’re working towards a common goal.

“You get to be a part of something. The theatre community is probably the most welcoming out of everybody and diverse because everybody is different,” said junior Jacob Sigler.

Students who actively participate in theater events feel an even stronger bond between them and their peers.

“People are really nice. They’re very helpful and we work as a team. It’s just like a second family,” said sophomore Rome Little.

Play On! will be performed on Oct. 25-27. The house will open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will start at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $8 for adults, $6.50 for students, and $5 for senior citizens,ITS members, and Little’s students. Tickets are on sale now during lunch and on their new booking site, pnhtheatre.booktix.com.

“Support the thespians. It’s a good way to spend the day,” said sophomore Andrew Hexem.

Sara Hong, Staff Writer