Drama Team Performs Meaningful Play

After several years of selecting comedic plays for the One-Act team, director Karmen Hamer decided to choose a serious play. 937, a historical drama by Don Zolidis, illustrates the perseverance of the Jews fleeing Germany during the Holocaust.

After an audition process, the class members immediately got to work on their assigned parts. They outlined each of their characters and created an entire backstory for each one, enabling them to truly inhabit their character.

Anna Musgrave, who had one of the lead roles, said, “Becoming Elise was a lot of fun for me. I got to go back in time and imagine her life before the Nazi regime and during its rise. I was able to gain a clearer perspective from the Jews’ thoughts, especially from one my own age. Overall, it was a truly challenging and powerful experience having to become my character, a young Jewish girl living in Nazi Germany.”

Anna Musgrave, Lydia Langmeier, Jessica Hilderbrand, and Cole Ruybalid recreate a powerful scene in the One Act one last time. This is the final scene between Elise (Musgrave) and Otto (Ruybalid). Otto recognizes Elise from the SS St. Louis journey and remembers the conflict they had. He then kills Elise, breaking the bond of love she had with Jacob.

Anna Musgrave, Lydia Langemeier, Jessica Hilderbrand, and Cole Ruybalid recreate a powerful scene in the One Act one last time. This is the final scene between Elise (Musgrave) and Otto (Ruybalid). Otto recognizes Elise from the SS St. Louis journey and remembers the conflict they had. He then kills Elise, breaking the bond of love she had with Jacob.

Juan Lasso’s parents were staunch supporters of the drama team, and they worked together to create the stage cabins and front hull of the destroyed ship. Numerous props were donated and costumes were rented and created. A lot of the students had to be creative as they put their costumes together.

The first public performance was dress rehearsal at the Edwin and Bernice Lock Performing Arts Center in Central City. The students took advantage of the resources they had and used the Central City mics for their performance. The first performance was a success. Many of the students were nervous but were able to perform to the best of their ability.

“Of course I would end up feeling nervous in front of the large crowd. But then it hit me like a brick: Why? We had all practiced hard, we all tried hard, we are great, so why be nervous? Let’s shine now! Then I just went,” said Trang Doan, who played the Cuban ambassador who refused to let the Jews enter Cuba.

After the first performance, the students began practicing with the mics they owned so they could use them during the next performance for Conference, which was at Scotia (Central Valley Schools). The performance was acted well, but the mics muffled the voices. The judges and the majority of the audience were not able to hear anything the actors and actresses said on stage.

The team got 4th out of 5th at conference. They ditched the mics, and with no practice (due to Thanksgiving break), went into districts. The district performance was easily the team’s best performance. The team placed 3rd at districts, and all were very satisfied with the performance and ranking.

Overall, the team grew closer together this year as friends through trial and error. Everyone was sad to let the performance go, but there will always be a spot for the characters, the piece, and their friends left in their hearts.

Top Photo: Drama Team. Row 1: Kelby Gustafson, Halle Strong, Katie Nyberg, Faith Franke, Trang Doan, Lydia Langemeier. Row 2: Jeremiah Ebel, Juan Lasso, Sophie Guo, Alyssa Gustafson, Madison Felt, Amy Hilderbrand, Jessica James, Dayna James, Carsyn Ostrand. Row 3: Curt Bailey, Bennett Zaruba, Braden Gustafson, Jon Dockweiler, Micah Smith, Anna Musgrave, Kate Pipher, Rebekah Feddersen, Cole Ruybalid.

Categorized in:High School International

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