St. Mary’s Theater

St. Mary’s drama department has always put a large amount of time and effort into their theater performances. Students love to participate in these productions, and are very committed to doing their best. St. Mary’s has a wide range of actors and skills. They can easily pull off comedies, tragedies, dramas, or anything else you can think of. Past performances include Annie, the comedy Into the Woods, The Crucible, Romeo and Juliet, and many others. Some of the performers have been performing with St. Mary’s for multiple years, while others are just starting off this year as freshman. With so many different students bringing their own talents into the theatre, and with the added bonus of a completely remodeled stage, tech booth, and sound system, upcoming performances are expected to be better than ever.
The upcoming performance “Just Another High School Play”, written by Bryan Starchman, will be the first to be performed this school year and will be opening in December. Jordan Culver, an actress that will be performing in the upcoming play, says that the early start on the play gives the performers a good amount of time to really prepare for the play. Jordan stated that no one really has a set role when asked about what part she will be playing, and then added that everyone will be playing multiple roles. The plot of “Just Another High School Play” is that of a high school play that has become very chaotic. It is based on a high school play were all the actors aren’t showing up to practices, or really putting in an effort to make the play a good one. Eventually, the director walks out on the hopeless play, leaving the actors to script and perform the play themselves. The actors come across a box of scripts and decide to create a new script using random lines from past plays.
Jordan stated that she was very excited to be performing on the new stage. When asked, she commented that the remodeling didn’t seem too necessary. “Plays done on the old stage seemed to have good sound and lighting, but I think the improvements will make future plays even better.” She comments. Also, she feels that the new balcony and tech booth makes operating the plays very convenient. On this same subject Anthony Rubino, a former tech assistant, feels that it was necessary because “the old tech system was terrible, and if the money didn’t go into fine arts it needed to be put into the theatre because the school is losing any sense of art that it had.” Other additions to the theater include many devices setup all around the room that reflect sound more directly to the audience.
Even though it is still early, the actors and actresses have been working hard to put on a great show. Jordan says that the upperclassmen have been very welcoming, and that their skills are an advantage to the incoming performers. She says that there is a lot to be learned from the older performers. St. Mary’s productions have always been absolutely amazing. And this year, with all the new advantages, no one is expecting anything less.