On Thursday, March 14, students walked into Leesville with the overwhelming sensation that they had traveled back in time.
Every spring, Theater II through IV performs traveling scenes from different clips of different plays in multiple classrooms throughout the day. Over twelve scenes had been performed from classic literature plays, including Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Raisin in the Sun and The Importance of Being Ernest.
After students auditioned, a master list of roles had been cast. Charlotte Galamb, senior in Theater II, discovered she would be playing in The Importance of Being Ernest. “I was pretty excited. I never read the role before, but my friend was like, ‘Charlotte, you’re going to be really great,’ so I was like ‘yes, it’s going to be really exciting,’” said Galamb.
In preparation, students memorized their lines and had in school rehearsals. Some went to friends outside the theater program to help them. To look the part of the characters, students researched past Broadway Productions, finding out what they wore and how they did hair and makeup.
“I really liked reading the play for one thing. It was really interesting. You learn the culture from back then and how a gay man saw it and how he could put his stamp on it,” said Galamb.
Then, after weeks of rehearsal and gathering costumes and props, the day came to perform their work to the school. The students also produced the scenes on stage, in the auditorium, that evening.
“I think we did very well. Everyone really enjoyed it, and I guess that’s all that really matters. I’ve heard really good things. Mrs. Wedge was raving about the performances, and my fourth period class said they were all very nice,” said Galamb. “At the evening performance, we got a lot of laughs.”
Galamb only wishes they could have traveled to a few more classes, allowing more students the opportunity to see literature being acted out.
“It’s really cool that Leesville let’s us go around, showing theater to people in English classes. This way the literature in a bunch of English classes come to life. So, you could see Romeo and Juliet being performed instead of just reading it,” said Galamb. “To Kill A Mockingbird was all over the place. I think kids really get a good idea on how things go do
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