By Cadyn Hollingsworth ’25
It’s officially autumn again! For some that means apple picking, awaiting fall foliage or Halloween shopping… but for Stage Right Drama Club, it means preparing for the annual BHS fall play. Though still two months away from performing, the cast and crew of this year’s production of She Kills Monsters are plugging away at putting the show together. For the last two weeks, the cast members have been running scenes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays while on Fridays the crew meets to work on sets, costumes, lighting and more.
Auditions for the cast took place on September 12th and had a big enough turnout that the play was able to be double casted. The two casts are referred to as the Dungeons cast and the Dragons cast, and each will get a chance to perform. “We have two casts because of the level of talent we have this year,” explained director Mrs. Bigus. “I made the decision about where to put people but they got the opportunity to tell me which role they would like to be casted in, which I took into high consideration.” By all accounts, the process of auditioning itself was found to be low-stress and fun by those involved. Ashton Harville-Fry, a junior in the cast this year, stated that auditions “always go well. Even though people go into it kinda nervous or scared, once you’re up on stage you know it’s not that bad.” A similar positive environment is described in stage crew. Freshman Audrey Talbot described the stage crew community as “very friendly and very welcoming.” She went on to say that “it’s definitely not a community where I’d be afraid to ask for help if I needed it.”
In the two short but productive weeks of rehearsals, the largest accomplishment was the first wave of planning and brainstorming. “We have a starting rehearsal where everyone gets together and writes down general characteristics with their understudies. But the real character process doesn’t really happen until you’re up there on stage trying different things,” explained senior cast member Stewart Moran. After character brainstorming and a table read formatted rehearsal, the cast jumped right into running scenes and coming up with the positioning, known as blocking, as they go. Mrs. Bigus described the challenges this particular play brings on in that respect, “we’re dealing with extensive stage combat which we’ve done some, but we have a whole new group of students who have to learn how to fight and make it believable without hurting each other.” She went on to explain that “the students have all the say in the blocking, and they’re being very creative in how to go from one world to the next and how to combat each other.”
She Kills Monsters is largely different from other productions that Stage Right has done in recent years. Last year the club put on two productions: Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde and Clue by Sandy Rustin. Both were comedic period pieces with sophisticated characters and simple blocking, but this year’s production is a considerable change in speed. She Kills Monsters takes place in 1995 Ohio and follows Agnes Evans, a teen girl who lost her sister Tilly Evans, who was a Dungeons & Dragons middle-schooler. Junior cast member Brianna Gambill expressed that this play is different from what BHS is used to due to the “unique choreography, and a unique plot involving bringing Dungeons and Dragons to life on the stage.”
Although quite different from previous successful productions, director Mrs. Bigus believes this contrast may be more engaging for the students. “I think the more we rehearse the play, the more that we as a cast love it. It has us laughing and also crying because it’s so touching and I really believe that high school students are going to love this play. I think many people will find it relatable if they’ve ever been that person that’s been left out, or the person that doesn’t quite fit in as well as the person that’s most popular.” The content of the play was also widely praised by the interviewed cast. Harville-Fry went on to state, “I like that it’s very representative of a lot of different groups and that it’s also just a really good story,” while Talbot went on to state “I’m a massive nerd so I find this play to be really fun.” Mrs. Bigus also went on to explain the content of the play as “really touching upon themes and issues that are oftentimes not talked about as much. With the death of a sibling, gender issues, sexuality issues, feeling left out and even students that have disabilities, we’re working on less talked about issues,” she elaborated.
Despite working with topics that may be sensitive or difficult to talk about, Stage Right Drama Club was described by all accounts to be an overwhelmingly positive and happy place. “Everyone’s really great. We kid around and joke a lot but, we definitely all care about each other and respect each other,” described Moran. Similarly, Harville-Fry described the atmosphere of Stage Right to be “very accepting and open,” going on to say that “people are always very nice. There’s a lot of different kinds of people here and we have a lot of fun.” You can come out and experience the 2022 fall play production of She Kills Monsters for yourself on the weekend of December 2nd at 7 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 2 PM on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, you can follow @bhsstageright on instagram to keep up to date with the club’s fundraisers, news, and productions.
