There are multiple factors in preparing for a play and there are different crews who are responsible for different roles in the play. This includes costuming, hair and makeup, lighting, and props.

“Costuming, they take care of the costumes and if things mishap, then they fix them with anything costume related. Hair and makeup is in charge of making sure that everybody’s hair and makeup fits the vibe of the show and everything that’s going on. Lighting and sound, they control the lighting and sound. Props are in charge of making sure everything is on stage, on time, stage crew. The stage managers are in charge of making sure that the props are correct,” freshman Brynnlee Craigmile said.

School plays also played a hand in benefiting students both socially and academically.

“They benefit socially, because if you’re acting on stage, then you’re putting yourself out there and you’re doing something on stage. But even if you’re not actively acting on stage, you’re still meeting new people and learning how to do different things,” sophomore Julie Gillette said.

A typical rehearsal day looks like students gathering props, getting into costumes and rehearsing lines. The theater crew usually runs through a whole show during rehearsal.

“For a dress rehearsal, it takes about an hour for all the actors to get into costume and get mic’d, and then we run through the whole show. For props, we have to give everyone their props before the scene, and at the end we all come together and talk about how to improve what we did,” Craigmile said.

Freshman Clara Swearingen highlights the community that theater brings together.

“My favorite part is the community that’s built and the friendships that last,” Swearingen said.  

The timeline from production to opening night is a couple months. Auditions for the play start first.

“It takes a long time, they had auditions for the play in December, and then it started right after break in January. So, about a month and a half,” Craigmile said.

The teachers play the role of supporting students with different things. Teachers advise things like costuming and lighting.

“Miss Huckfeldt, for example, is in charge of overlooking all of the costuming. Mr. Hensley, he plays a really big role in making sure everything is coming together properly,” Swearingen said.

Challenges they faced are avoiding problems backstage. Actors sometimes missed an entrance or props.

“The biggest challenge is probably like Speaker 1 avoiding problems backstage, if an actor forgets to pick up a prop or misses an entrance,” Gilette said.