A New Era for SHS Drama

Coming into the 2022-23 academic year, the SHS Drama Club learned their director, Matt Maggio, had accepted a new position in a different school district. Following his departure, SHS faculty member Elizabeth Clancy stepped in to fill his shoes. The first productions she directed at SHS were “Knock Knock” and “When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors,” which were presented on Friday, November 18th, and Saturday the 19th. 

“Knock Knock” is a hilarious comedy about two delivery workers, Sam (played by SHS junior John Driscoll) and Logan (played by SHS senior Maggie Murray). Driscoll, an outstanding actor, connected really well with the character and  made the audience laugh with hilarious reactions. Likewise, Murray showed also off her innate ability to make an audience laugh. Both actors truly brought the show to life with their striking chemistry; however, all the actors and crew came together to produce a show jam-packed with talent. SHS junior Ashley Doherty, who played Kerri the psychic, shared a comedic scene with Driscoll when her character Kerri freaked out Sam with her connection to “the other side.”

“When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors” is a comedy about a production of the “Wizard of Oz” that goes completely (and hysterically) wrong. The show opened with SHS freshman William Kaplan as Farmer Ben, a character who forgot his monologue and had to improv the entire thing! The show was a comedic wonder, even involving the audience in scenes where actors “break the fourth wall” and the cast and crew go by their real names. Especially getting laughs when she broke the 4th wall, SHS senior Taylor Carty, who played Dorothy, skillfully portrayed the emotions of her character: Expressing Dorothy’s annoyance toward her fellow cast members, Carty was challenged to demonstrate the difference between being “in character” as Dorothy and “out of character” as herself. During the final scene, the “out of character” Carty loses her patience, screams at the cast, and runs off stage.

Finally, SHS junior Scarlett Hickman as Toto, made the most out of playing a very difficult character, and SHS sophomore Jared Giacomozzi as Tin Man had the audience falling out of their seats with laughter as his character constantly interrupted the show. His final appearance included moonwalking onto the stage and insisting the cast go along with participating in a previous scene he missed.

Cast members enjoyed working with the assistant director, Marley Schwarz, who is a Scituate High School graduate. Schwarz helped students understand how to portray their characters and infuse more emotion into their performance.

Putting on two productions is a feat in itself, but couple this with Clancy’s first time directing at Scituate High School, and you have an experience that required extra hours of hard work for the directors, the actors, and the tech team behind the scenes. The crew’s goal was to make the show flow as smoothly as possible with mistakes looking like they were intentional. Actors had to memorize lines and choreography while tech had to run the show with a specific and critical lens. This play had to be rehearsed over and over again, which was difficult to manage with everyone’s differing schedules, but the group always managed to find time to rehearse. 

Hickmann, an actor in both plays and a member of tech’s props’ department, explained how the show was “a lot of time, effort, and sweat,” but she found it to be “worth it in the end.” Hickmann said, “We were always laughing and having fun.” 

On the tech side of the production, SHS senior Emma Riedel, assistant stage manager, also mentioned how these two shows required a lot of hard work and dedication. Even with problems outside of the crew’s control, like the soundboard continuously crashing, the group managed to persevere. Riedel went on to say that “the dedication and commitment of those in the Drama Club is absolutely commendable, and I want everyone to know how hard everyone works to put it all together.” 

The effort that went into this show was very apparent from all sides. Clancy’s goal was to give the audience the feeling of a “light and easy night out” with two comedies that remained family-friendly. This light hearted feeling not only translated to the audience but also to the crew working together on this show, with Hickmann finding their favorite part to be “creating memories and becoming close with amazing people!”

This sentiment was shared with Riedel, who said the group “had less time to rehearse than we normally do, but even with a new director, everyone managed to come together.” Riedel added, “During tech week, everyone was so supportive and kind, and I love the community we’ve built. Our community has really come together, and Ms. Clancy has become a crucial and welcome part of it.”