Leaving behind the comedy of last year’s State-winning One Act show, “Lend Me A Tenor,” the cast and crew of this year’s One Act show, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” has been adapting to the changes that come with putting on a drama before their first performance which will be on Nov. 10.
“Comedies and dramas are very different and require different actors, acting styles, set designs, paint themes, etc.,” Assistant Director Calvin Schlautman said. “Thus, If we do one type of play over and over again, students won’t get the full theatrical experience, and students who act well in comedies will get all the roles while students who are great dramatic actors won’t get any roles.”
In addition to the students getting opportunities for different roles, they are learning more about the dramatic acting process. For example, Junior Ava Fink played one of the leading roles last year but this year she will be playing one of the minor speaking roles.
“Some actors are stronger in drama, some are stronger in comedy, so it’ll be a learning experience for all of our actors as we coach them into telling a different kind of story than last year,” director Nicole Schlautman said. “Our crew will get more opportunities for a different style of painting and constructing as well.”
The shift from comedic to dramatic style has challenged students, but the directors have been working with them to get it down.
“Students are used to the comedic style from last year, so teaching, breaking them out of their comedic reacting habits to bring them into a more realistic style of acting will be a fun challenge for us,” Nicole Schlautman said. “It’s a different form of communication; it requires different language and direction to open them up to this style of acting.”
The cast is excited about incorporating the new techniques and growing their theatre knowledge and experience.
“This drama will allow us as actors to expand our acting portfolio and just to try new genres,” Fink said. “Performing different types of plays allows us as actors to expand our craft and explore new emotions. Last year doing a comedy allowed us to work on our comedic timing, facials and just picking apart how the character would feel. This year ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ will allow us to work more on emotions, fight scenes, and learning how to fake cry.”
The show also allows students to explore a genre many of them haven’t before and how to deal with the emotions it can create.
“Sometimes dramas have darker themes, lines, characters and imagery that can get grating over a while,” co-director Calvin Schlautman said. “Think of watching a horror movie every day for three months; eventually that might take a toll on you. As directors, we have to be aware of the student’s mental health and help them separate the acting and characters from reality to keep everyone happy, positive, focused and successful.”
