Theater I students performed their first showcase April 17. The showcase is called “The cast list,” and is about a play a their school is doing and the students’ reactions to the role they received for “Romeo and Juliet.” The play showcased the conflict that comes with the reality of receiving their roles in a theater performance. The Theater I students performed two sets, each with different cast members to showcase different people. The students have been spending their time during class for the past month doing rehearsals and practicing their lines along with different types of leadership skills.

“I am most excited for the preparation beforehand, that way you can really get excited with your class and doing warm-ups together because that is always fun,” Emma Hahn said. 

Hahn played a character by the name of Trish, a casting director. Trish does whatever in her skill set she can to make the other students pay her for her skills. Some things that Hahn has learned about her character is that she is mean to the other students that she’s talking to in the scene she is in. Hahn has been practicing before the show on how to show a negative personality and attitude towards other people. The cast of the show had connections with their fictional characters.

“I feel kind of connected to [Jeremy] because him and I get nervous about this kind of stuff too, and he is just and overall interesting character that gets stress out a lot, which is something that we can all relate too,” Jayden Qualls said. “I think the way I’ve been getting to kind of portray him more and understand him better is just kind of by rehearsing the lines so much that it becomes almost my own words.”

The newer students have their common struggles for their showcase; struggles such as learning or memorizing their lines and being comfortable with stepping onto the stage in front of a full audience. Students in the cast were able to cope with these stressors by talking to their theater director about it or practicing with their scene partner multiple times before the showcase began. Some students  were able to take care of themselves on the stage by ruminating in their head that the show is not a complete full house and that it is not a life or death situation — even for those who have stage fright.

“The showcase gives you a real life experience as to what it’s like to be in a play; it helps you build a community within a theater program,” Aubrey Buffum said. “It’s a lot of fun, and it builds your confidence as a performer. Backstage in the wings, everyone’s

always cheering you on, and when you finish your scene, you step back into the wings and your friends are always there to tell you how much of a good job you did. Our peer teachers, who are also the directors of ‘[The Cast List]’, they do a great job with notes.  super receptive to questions [and] they’re always willing to give you feedback.