If you have ever walked by the auditorium after school, you have undoubtedly seen the flurry of action that is the SHS drama club. The hallway is always electric with students rehearsing their lines or practicing their scales. But this year, there will be a change amid the madness. Starting this fall, Lisa Rafferty and Catherine Hall will assume responsibilities as the new directors of the drama club, replacing Scituate High School teachers Ms. Fanelli and Mr. Beattie.
While, at first, this change may have seemed ominous and foreboding, the advisorial change has been welcomed warmly. Senior and co-president of the Thespian Society, Hancie Stokes, thinks this new alteration will bring improved perspective to the club. “It will provide a fresh look on things, and I think that Mrs. Rafferty’s perspective will be new. Also, I believe that it will demand a bigger commitment, which will be good for all of us.”
Rafferty first recognized her love for directing as a senior in college. She had been involved with theater all throughout her life, but there had been a problem: she hated acting.
“I don’t really like being on stage. The thing I love about directing is that I can still work in all of the aspects of theater that I love, but I do not need to be in front of an audience,” Rafferty said. “Sometimes I will do cameo roles in the pieces that I write, but I absolutely hate it.”
Coming into the SHS drama scene, Rafferty brings with her a full resume. In 2001, Rafferty co-wrote and directed MOMologues with two other local mothers. The show opened in 2002 to a sold-out run in Boston. Since then, Rafferty has been working hard to move her passion for theater behind the scenes.
Rafferty hopes that this coming school year will demand more commitment to the drama club. “Drama is serious fun,” she boasts. “I love the students here, I can’t wait to spend time with them both onstage and off.”
In addition, the drama club will undergo serious changes behind the scenes. New production and technical assistants will step in in a mentoring program that Rafferty has composed for the students. “I think this will be a great learning experience for them,” she said. “I hope the increased levels of commitment and professionalism will help SHS productions become more like community events. I want going to a play at the high school to be the thing to do, not something you have to do because you’re related to someone in the cast.”
With auditions for the fall musical already completed, the members of the drama club are incredibly enthusiastic about the upcoming production season. The fall musical, “Once Upon a Mattress,” will open on Nov. 16 and run until Nov. 18. After that, Rafferty and the rest of the drama club will settle into their winter production, which they will bring to competition in March. Spoiler alert: Rafferty explains that the winter production will tie somehow into the English curriculum here at SHS, so keep an eye out for that! But for now, the cast and crew of Drama Club will occupy themselves with preparing for the musical with a whole new perspective. Good luck to Lisa Rafferty and all the new faces of the drama club.