This year’s fall play called We The People, written by Pat Cook, was created to expose the audience to the true meaning of being an American through the preamble of the Constitution.
The play is about a few community members coming together to do a skit in time for Veteran’s Day by using the preamble to the Constitution. It includes an interpretation of each individual line of the preamble.
We The People was intended to inform viewers about the Constitution in the days right before the election.
“A lot of people [were] choosing sides and [drama teacher Lori Carlin] just wanted to send a message out there that we’re all still Americans, and we all have things in common and to really create more of a sense of community,” junior Carter Smith said. “This play gives a taste about what the Constitution and what American history is about.”
The historical aspect of this play did not attract a large teenage audience, possibly because students were tired of election coverage and history classes.
“On one hand I think the people [were] a little overwhelmed with all the election coverage, on the other hand I think [the play has] a positive message and [is] a really good experience for people,” Carlin said a week before the play.
Although We The People is a historically based play, many cast members do not believe this affected attendance.
“A lot of [teenagers did not] come to this because of the historical aspect, but I also think that we [gained] an older and a younger audience,” junior Quinn Kerscher said.
The fall play last year was called Mirrors, and was performed by the acting ensemble. Carlin wrote it herself for the all girls cast. We The People has a majority female cast with two males.
“It’s very different [from Mirrors],” Carlin said. “It’s much shorter, and it’s meant for a small cast. Mirrors was written specifically for those girls and this [was] kind of a general play written for high school students, so it’s different than the other things we’ve produced through the years.”
Mirrors was meant for an all girls’ cast, limiting the themes possible for the play. The two males in We The People opened up more options for the production this year.
“It’s definitely not built around girls’ themes like last year’s play was; it’s not about drama or figuring yourself out; it’s more about figuring out the country. It’s about the bigger picture,” Kerscher said.
Sophomore Devin Howard played one of the lead roles, George.
“We all [tried] our best and did what we [needed] to do,” Howard said. “This year’s group really wanted to do this play, and [we were] willing to work hard and give it our all.”
–By Katie Robbins