The lights dim and a spotlight appears, singling out sophomore, Matara Hitchcock alone on the stage. She opens her mouth to speak, only for the director to yell cut. It’s not the final production, but another rehearsal for the theatre department’s newest play.
After successful performances with “The Laramie Project” and “Lucky Stiff,” they are busy putting together a new spring show. With the new production comes memorizing lines, channeling a character and preparing for an audience.
“The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza”, a comedy associated with popular Greek plays, was created by Don Zolidis to journey through all of the myths of ancient Greece.
“I was looking through scripts and I wanted to something that has a lot of people in it,” theatre director Dan Schmidt said. “That’s not overly line (something they don’t have to memorize lots of lines) and something contemporary, funny and sarcastic.”
Consisting of eleven different Greek myths, “The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza” is told to the audience in a series of tactics, using American pop references, audience participation and even cross dressing.
The play begins with two narrators, Hitchcock and sophomore Jake Louis, who guide the audience through the play. Along with the narrators, the actors are given multiple roles throughout the play to portray the different myths.
“I think they [the audience] are going to enjoy it all because it’s just constant laughs and there aren’t any dead parts in the show. It’s all funny,” Louis said. “But, let’s just say that after the show, they’ll probably hate my character because of what I say.”
Along with Schmidt’s stagecraft classes, some parents and the cast have been working since right after spring break to prepare for the show. Casting occurred a few days before spring break, only allowing a month for rehearsals.
“I think Schmidt is a wonderful director,” sophomore Lauren Henke said. “I trust him a lot with what he does because, even if we’re worried about the show or worried about how it’s going, he always follows through with stuff.”
“The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza” premieres on April 19.