By: Solon Walker and Johanna Ziegler
To go or not to go? That was the question posed for Minarets drama students when the annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was announced near the end of last school year. Ultimately, fourteen students from Minarets would choose to attend the four day, three-night trip up to Ashland, Oregon.
The Minarets Drama Program has been making the yearly trek up to Oregon every August for the past four years. For those unfamiliar, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a repertoire theatre company, the largest of its kind in the United States. Complete with three theatres and a cast of over one hundred professional actors, the Festival has a performance season running 10 months long with 11 shows in its lineup. The ambitious nature of the Festival is what Minarets drama teacher Kayla West likes most about the trip. “I like how many shows we can fit into a small amount of time...You could see one actor play the Mad Hatter, and the next night he’s Macbeth,” says West.
The Minarets drama club drove to Ashland to see four productions in particular. The first was an adaption of the classic novel Alice in Wonderland, directed by Sara Bruner. The second was Hairspray, a Broadway musical about a girl who uses her fame to spread a message of inclusion. Following Hairspray was a modernization of the Shakespearean comedy All’s Well That Ends Well. The next day, the students saw La Comedia of Errors, another modern adaption of a Shakespearean comedy, this time with elements in Spanish.
Sophomore Aubrey Hamm agreed that Hairspray was the best of the shows. Hamm described the production as, “Really creative, and the set design was really bright and colorful.” The students also enjoyed the city itself, speaking of its pleasant parks, shops, and restaurants. Between the sights on stage and around town, the sophomore says a return trip is assured.
Seeing modernized Shakespeare, having Q&A sessions with the actors, and touring the backstages of theatres also has an educational benefit in addition to being a fun experience for drama students. West emphasizes the importance of the exposure students receive during the shows and tours. Whether it be seeing what a professional show looks like or studying the complicated webwork of customers, sound engineers, stage managers, and set designers, students take away a new understanding and appreciation for the theatrical world. Drama club president and senior Emma Lynch, a three-time attendee of the trip, says, “It’s very encouraging to watch it because...you watch these plays and you just can’t help but be like, ‘Oh, I wanna do that! I want that to be me!’ It’s really refreshing going back into the school year with that kind of mindset.” West has picked up on this kind of student reaction and has seen its ripple effect on the Minarets Drama upon returning from the Festival. She says, “Theatre is the art of storytelling, and we get to see a bunch of stories in a short amount of time. We get to be entertained, but I know in multiple of the shows we were emotionally moved. It reminds us of what theatre can be and why we keep doing what we’re doing.”
Minarets Drama is giving students an opportunity to practice some of their own storytelling. Auditions for Little Mermaid the Musical will be held Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Wednesday, Sept. 18 after school. Callbacks will take place on Thursday, Sept. 19. Those not interested in a role onstage may also contact West to see what positions are available to work backstage. Come out and see what theatre magic is all about!
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