A New Role for SHS Drama

In the past, the SHS Drama Club has been known to inhabit the far corner of the high school, inside an auditorium laden with blue decor, and appropriately near the chorus room. But with the turbulent change in scenery at the high school, that familiar corner is gone. Along with its absence has gone the normal routine of the Drama Club.

Left with no auditorium to rehearse or perform in, the Drama Club can be found most weekdays in the cafeteria. The setting of each practice is in the center of the cafe. A makeshift stage is created as lunch tables are rolled off. Accompanying this temporary space is, once again, the chorus room, now inhabiting the former teacher’s’ lounge. This setup, while functional, is quite a change of scenery.

As usual, the Drama Club has taken advantage of their friendly neighbor, and they host meetings and occasional rehearsals in the chorus room. Mr. Richter, the chorus teacher and guardian of all things musical, is happy to share the space. As he put it, “The space is everybody’s. When we move into the new room, when we were in the old room, anybody can use it.”

The space isn’t the only change to the Drama Club’s normal year: the show schedule has been affected by the construction, too. With the lack of an auditorium, the usual fall musical has been pushed back to be performed in the spring. In its place is a Shakespearean classic: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” A play about donkeys, love potions, and fairies is a fresh challenge for the cast of SHS Drama.

Furthermore, the annual festival play that is performed in the winter has its own new twist. The festival show, which must be forty minutes or less, will be in a competition with seven or so other schools. Typically, the show is something lesser known, but this year it’s a product of student creativity. The festival show will be a shortened version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” adapted by a student team of writers led by Alex Moon. While only a junior in high school, Moon is already a seasoned veteran of playwriting, starting in his freshman year.

The current process is just beginning. As Moon puts it, “We’re taking ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Shakespeare, and we’re trying to revamp it into an entirely new show based on the original piece.” Alex Moon is an experienced playwright: his first play “Eris’s Chains” was performed twice for live audiences, and “The Werewolves” won the Artists from Suburbia Act One Contest.

The two directors of SHS Drama, Ty and Amy Lemerande, remain excited for the new year, despite the plethora of changes wrought on them. “This is the first year we really feel ownership of the club, because we’ve had you guys since you were freshmen,” said Ty. They are up for facing the challenge and are happy to have a hand in creating the community that is the current Drama Club. While the grand opening of the new auditorium may still be on hold, the Drama Club isn’t keeping idle.