A group of students lines the stage of the Black Box Theatre. Students look nervously left and right, frantically running through lines in their head. The director frankly states the details of the audition and what he’s looking for in a cast. As he paces the stage examining the face of each of the nervous students, a loud ‘Cut!’ echoes through the theater.

This commonly found scenario of a high school theater production is what the cast of Southwest’s theatre department has been rehearsing for the past month in preparation of the spring play, “The Audition.”

The spring production will feature two one act plays. “The Audition,” which follows the auditions for a high school’s production of a musical, will also be performed alongside “That’s Not How I Remember It,” which focuses the differing accounts of a mother and father recalling how they first met.

“It’s cool that there’s two stories that we can tell within one production,” junior Shari Gaynes, who plays Carrie in “The Audition” and Lola in “That’s Not How I Remember It” said. “It’s an interesting thing that they’re really short because we can get through [them] really quick, and it’s a different rehearsal process.”

With theater teacher and usual director Dan Schmidt busy coaching girls C-team soccer, the directing duties were left up to senior Lauren Henke and a former student of Schmidt.

“It’s different [having a student director] for ‘The Audition’ because she’s one of our peers,” senior Sarah Dodd, who plays Yuma in “The Audition” and Tricia in “That’s Not How I Remember It” said. “I love that she’s directing and think it’s an awesome opportunity for her, but it’s definitely different having a student director.”

In order to adequately rehearse each play, the cast has been alternating rehearsing each play every other day.

“It’s nice that [rehearsal] is not just the same thing over and over again, which can get a little bit tedious,” Dodd said. “It’s hard to keep it fresh when it’s like that, especially with a really goofy play. It’s nice to have alternating days.”

While he thinks that the audience will like both of the plays, senior Jake Louis, who plays Nurse Jim and a thug in “That’s Not How I Remember It, thinks that parents will be able to relate to “That’s Not I Remember It.”

“I think a lot of parents mainly in the audience will see a lot of similarities because it’s set in the ‘80’s, so they’ll see a lot of things that happened to them,” Louis said. “I think everyone will find it pretty hilarious.”

“The Audition” and “That’s Not How I Remember It” will be performed in the Black Box Theatre on April 17, 18, 19, 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m.