Students at two local high schools are showing plays that will mark new milestones in performing arts this weekend. Four Center Grove High School students will perform student-written and directed plays for the first time. Indian Creek High School students will perform for the first time in a brand new auditorium.
Center Grove Student-Directed Plays
Four senior students at Center Grove High School wrote their own one-act plays and will direct them for the first time this weekend. This is the first year that students have written and directed their own plays, theater teacher Skylar Torrey said, and hopefully not the last.
“I was actually not expecting them to write their own show. They all just came to me with a show that they wrote and I thought it was a great idea,” Torrey said.
Each play has its own plot, twists, cast and director. Senior Chloe Lutz is focusing on identity and finding oneself in her play, “Nevermind.” Lilly Garcia explores a case of friends and family trying to solve a mysterious death in her play “Get a Clue.” Isabella Dills’ play “Happily Ever After,” is a rendition of Snow White with a “few twists and turns.” Caleb Smith’s play “Candlelight” follows a divorced couple returning to home to split their belongings.
Torre helped the students edit their scripts, but for the most part, she has supervised students as they do their own thing. Each student agreed that the experience has solidified their passion for theater and their future careers. Garcia said it has helped her gain confidence and leadership skills. It’s a lot easier for her to give constructive criticism among her peers than before, she said.
“It’s giving me that opportunity for the future,” Garcia, who wants to be an educator, said. Garcia said she has loved watching the characters she crafted come to life.
Dills agreed. As the play came together, her characters and script have evolved from the original draft and what she had in mind.
“I always knew that I wanted to continue participating in the theater world even if it wasn’t in a professional capacity,” she said. “But I never thought that I have the opportunity to do something as big as this. So it was really exciting.”
For Smith, directing and writing his own play has allowed him to appreciate the intricacy of the work, he said. He hopes to become a theater teacher in the future, he said.
“It’s allowing me to show me what the directing aspects would be and how to work with kids and stuff,” Smith said.
The opportunity has helped the students build confidence among their peers and as leaders. Writing the play and watching it come to life through the characters they created and cast surprised has been a mixture of nerve-wracking and exciting for the students.
Not only have their plays and characters evolved, so have their leadership and cast members. Directing and navigating being a leader among peers has helped them gain confidence and express themselves more freely.
“I’m most excited for everyone to be impacted by each and every story that we’re telling. Cuz it’s exciting. It’s happy. It’s sad. It’s thrilling,” Lutz said. “It’s just a lot put into one show and I think it’s gonna be way more exciting than — obviously other theater shows are really exciting — but this in particular it’s students coming together, putting a show together with a bunch of different stories. You’re gonna go through a million emotions and I’m really excited to see people’s reactions.”
The student-directed one-act plays will run at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased here.
‘A Christmas Carol’ at Indian Creek
The community is invited to see the ghost of Christmas past and the future of Indian Creek’s Performing Arts Center this weekend with “A Christmas Carol.” Students will perform in Indian Creek High School’s new auditorium for the first time this weekend, theater director Lauren Atwood said.
Atwood chose the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s rendition of the “A Christmas Carol” play because of its cast size and opportunity to get more kids involved in theater. The cast size nearly doubled this year with 39 students working on and off-stage to bring the show together.
“There are tons of roles for everybody,” Atwood said. “It sticks pretty true to the classic tale.”
The high school just unveiled its new auditorium last weekend. Students are excited to be in the new space, Atwood said.
“Our old auditorium kind of within the last year has shut down on us, the lights and the sound quality have diminished and so to be in the new space where the kids are able to be seen and heard and really show off their hard work and talent, I think is the most exciting thing for me,” Atwood said.
Last year, 20 students performed Legend of Sleep Hollow.
With double the cast size, and triple the seating capacity in the new auditorium, Atwood said she hopes to see more community involvement.
“Having the opportunity to do a Christmas program and opening the new auditorium, we’re hoping we will see a lot more interest from the community and neighboring schools and their staff and students as well coming in to see our new space,” Atwood said.
Principal Luke Skobel attended a choir concert in the old auditorium last week and heard the choir perform in the new auditorium on Sunday. The difference, he said, is tremendous.
“The acoustics blew me away,” Skobel said.
Skobel said hopes the improvements help students feel valued and inspired to try new things.
“A Christmas Carol” play will run at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available for purchase online and at the door. General admission will cost $10, $7 for students K-12, and free for kids aged four and under. Purchase tickets here.
