Lovers cried their hearts out, wizards dueled at school and superheroes went to therapy. In the season two assembly, the Drama Club once again made the Jets burst into laughter with another performance. This time around, the production featured three distinct stories, with their out-of-context adding an extra layer of humor. Each production comes with arduous work behind the scenes, from script writing to troubleshooting. 

Act 1: Matilda 

When the Drama Club members select material to perform, they brainstorm ideas and hold a vote among a few candidates. In particular, they search for a story that entertains all age groups, from kindergarteners to seniors. 

For the season one assembly, the Drama Club unanimously decided on “Matilda.” “We chose to do ‘Matilda’ because we were looking for something that was well-known to everyone already but also different from our usual fairy tales. Also, ‘Matilda’ includes humorous scenes that we thought would be funny for us to pull off,” said sophomore Flora Yoon. 

Before the drafting process, the members decide which version – book or movie – to follow. The screenwriters then cut unnecessary lines, compress scenes, and exempt entire acts to condense a two-hour experience into 15 minutes. “It was especially hard to create the script for ‘Matilda’ this year, and we had to put a lot of time into reorganizing and cutting scenes so that we didn’t go over the time limit, ” said Stella Lee in 8th grade. 

The final draft, roughly ten pages long, blooms as members pitch in original ideas and revisions to spotlight each character rather than a single lead. “We try to shift a lot of the focus from the main character to other side characters because our Drama Club isn’t about who gets the main role. For example, in ‘Matilda,’ we decided to include the chocolate cake eating scene for Bruce so he got the chance to act more,” Lee said. 

This collective creativity often sparks unexpected icons like the debut of the Green Screen man. “In the movies, they make people wear a green suit and they edit the guy out to create the magic movements. So I thought we should implement this into the play. People also kept commenting ‘It’s the green screen man’ in the hallway. I really enjoyed being part of the play even if I didn’t have any actual lines,” said freshman Chirayu Joshi.

Act 2: Comedy Skits 

For the season two assembly, however, the Drama Club intensely debated over what to perform. Supporters of the comedy skits argued this approach would allow for more creative freedom, while some members pushed for more conventional plays that lasted longer and developed a solid story plot.

After multiple rounds of voting and persuasion, the members agreed on comedy skits. “In the beginning, I wanted to do Frozen instead of comedy skits because I got a good role as Kristoff. But doing the comedy skits was really fun and everyone liked it so I think it was a great opportunity for me,” seventh-grader Sophia Sung said. 

This allowed them to expand on all of their ideas instead of narrowing it down to one. “We chose Harry Potter, Romeo and Juliet, and a Superhero one based on what everyone wanted to do. It was better for everyone because this time we didn’t have to take out any ideas,” Paul Marechal, a Drama Club member in seventh grade, said. 

With only three weeks left before the assembly, more people joined the scriptwriting process than usual. “Different people worked on different skits. It was nice that we got to explore different genres in such a short amount of time. It’s completely different from what we usually do,” Marechal said.  

The members put their scriptwriting skills to use and exercised more creative liberty. They ultimately reinterpreted scenes for comedic effect while switching up the placement of core elements, leading to planned chaos. “It was really out of context but I could see that some of the iconic scenes like the “Wingardium Leviosa” scene and Harry meeting Ron and Hermione were included,” Volt Paik in seventh grade said. 

Once the Drama Club puts the finishing touches on the script, they practice their acting relentlessly to put on a flawless show. “‘New Choice’ is popular among the members where two people act out a random scene and when someone yells out ‘new choice’, the two actors act out a completely different scene without changing their body positions but their dialogues,” Yoon said. Speed-run rounds of improvisation games keep the actors quick on their feet and ready for the stage. 

Such drilling shines during unexpected hurdles mid-performance. “After the Romeo and Juliet skit, I had to change clothes but my microphone was stuck to Romeo’s cape. That moment, I was really stressed that I wasn’t going to make it in time. Luckily, it turned out to be fine as the audience thought it was all part of the play,” Marechal said. 

The Drama Club members put their heart into delivering unique performances that captivate the DIS community. The process pushes student actors’ beyond their limits, but the audience’s smiles make the effort worthwhile. With each production, the Drama Club leaves students eager for the next.