Due to the absence of theater teacher Mrs. Julie Hilliker and behavioral complications in the Theater II/III/IV class, restraints have been placed on the annual senior OPS (one person show) performances. Although after school rehearsals cannot be scheduled in the theater without adult supervision and will not be allowed, students in the Theater II/III/IV class have been granted the permission from administration to host two night shows with adult supervision.

“We are now going to have two night shows, one on April 26 and one on April 27 from 7-9:30, and there will be four shows each night,” Casey Borghesi said.

During the class period on March 11, students Borghesi and Kayla Duffey were nominated by the Theater II/III/IV class to present a plan of action formally to Mrs. Debora Hawkins. Their plan included a persuasive statement on how the funds from the night will help the program, and also included an apology letter written Samantha Raey Gonzales as the voice of the theater class. The apology letter promised better behavior by the Theater II/III/IV students and a more organized class environment from now on. Overall the plan the class created fit all 11 shows into two night shows and one day show during the advanced theater period.

“As a class we felt it was really important to get the night shows and since it was so important, we set up proposal where we had a financial plan of what the night shows did for our program along with an apology letter. Overall, it included different things to show [Mrs. Hawkins] how serious we were,” Borghesi said.

The current substitute Mr. Bruce Maiman took charge of the classroom in the beginning of March. Although he has only been in the classroom for a short time, he has started to develop lesson plans and more specific tasks for the advanced class.

“It’s kind of like getting dropped into a 26 mile marathon at the 20th mile. These students have been kind of on their own, and it’s very difficult to put the wheels back on to something like that,” Mr. Maiman said.

He has also helped the students, specifically Borghesi and Duffey, to decide their plan of action when advocating the one person shows that the administration has now allowed them to participate in.

“There are producer roles in these kinds of things, and I’d say that Casey and Kayla have kind of taken on that kind of a role. Where the producer guides all the technical and paperwork elements, all the organizational elements. That was something I wasn’t really prepared to do, walking in at the 20th mile,” Bruce said.

Although students are able to have the two night shows in order to fit three or four shows in each night, complications arise when it comes to rehearsals.
Ashley Marvin said, “It makes it harder to participate because the rehearsals are during intervention, lunch and after school away from school and during school hours as well. If you are talking to teachers, doing work, trying to get ahead, or have sports, it allows for a lot of conflict.”

by RACHEL MARQUARDT