In previous years, the OH winter play was under the title of Skits and Giggles, performing various skits created by OH students. This year, students had roughly 24 hours over the course of four days, to write, direct, rehearse, and perform a short play.
“First we start off with auditioning cast members [Jan. 27], making sure that we know what roles they want to do. Then, we make ideas on [Jan. 29] the second day of planning. Then yesterday, Friday [Jan. 31], we were here from 2:30 to 10:00 writing this entire script. Actors didn’t come until around seven o’clock,” said senior and Standing O Theatre Company member AJ Mondragon.
That’s not all. The cast and crew of the winter play worked for roughly half a day on the day of the performance.
“Today, coming in at nine in the morning, and we’re basically here until almost nine o’clock ,” said Mondragon. “We run the play about two or three times before the actual showtime this is what comes out of all that hard work that we put through Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and today [Feb. 1].”
Unlike the fall plays and spring musicals, only juniors and seniors are allowed to direct the play, while freshmen and sophomores exclusively act.
“There’s writers, actors, and directors, and then regular light and tech groups. So, the directors take the script–and they’re juniors and seniors–and they all do their own thing. They direct how they want,” said freshman and SOTC member Brooklyn Hatala. “Writers, they can be any grade. They basically sat down last night [Jan. 31] and we brainstormed ideas. We wrote it all down on paper and edited some this morning [Feb. 1].”
Audience members funneled into the OH auditorium as the curtains opened on Feb. 1 at 7 pm. As said before, this year’s play was not an expected collage of different skits, but rather one act of eight scenes to create a connected storyline.
“[The winter play] usually doesn’t come together super well, but this year apparently came together better than expected,” said Hatala.
Each scene featured a different setting of a school. For example, scene one was labeled as Science Class, and scene two as English Class. However, a common favorite appears to be the World Language Class scene.
“I really loved the language [scene] for obvious reasons. It was very silly,” said freshman and SOTC member Shelby Van Kley. “It was a Spanish class where the principal, who is Russian, decided to come in and speak it, but instead of teaching us actual Russian, he was just kind of teaching us brain rot.”
The play definitely had its comedic moments, but the common factor that tied the story together was that each scene ended with a student getting detention. The play ended with the students banding together in detention.
“Our whole theme was ‘school’ and we wanted to make a mockumentary, so, a mockumentary about The Breakfast Club was not a bad idea. It got the story across and, hey, it works,” said Mondragon.
SOTC plans to perform another comedic show for their upcoming spring musical. Those interested can watch the story of a world where private toilets are illegal and citizens are forced to use public, pay-to-use restrooms. As of now, the musical Urinetown will show from April 24-26.
I am a senior and this is my first year as a student journalist for 42Fifty. I currently play the trumpet in the OHS Marching Band and I am a member of BIONIC as well. I am excited for learning and gaining experience in journalism this year. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
