There’s no doubt that the SHS Drama Club has talent, but the debut of Springfest on May 9, 2014 will presentinsight as to what goes on behind the scenes. Run exclusively by students, small groups of drama club members will perform the short plays they’ve been working on for the past few months. Junior and Senior Thespian Society members will direct the plays they’ve either written or adapted for the festival, offering a different perspective on the hard work that goes into producing a show.

    The casts of the plays were picked through a draft by the student directors themselves. This provides a fair way to divide up the talented actors and allow them to perform in small groups with new dynamics.  

    Of the seven shows, two were written by Scituate High School students. Writing offers a different option for students looking to challenge themselves and push their creative boundaries. Playwrights include Senior Jack Duff, writer of “Chips and Glass” and Samantha Gottlich writer of “Lucy” who even went as far as to copyright her play, making it officially published. Gottlich said most of the plays are comedies but she is trying to reach a new demographic with “Lucy” which contains messages about anti-suicide and anti-depression. “I want the audience to feel less alone. Scituate deals with a lot of problems when it comes to drugs and I feel like a lot of people feel neglected. I hope this will reach out to them” Gottlich said.

     Each of the ten minute plays provides the audience with a short burst of entertainment. Student directed plays offer challenges in addition to the usual pre-show stress.  Director of “Love in the Ravioli Season”, junior Roger Dawley said, “the entire process is all in about a month, so the directors and actors are all trying to do their best with their ten minutes.”

    Other plays include “Kungfoolery” directed by Teddy Ragge and Chris MacDonald, “All Your Future Endeavors” directed by Casey McCormack, “The Secret Origin of Mojo Man” directed by Will Gee, and “Donut” directed by Aisling Sheahan and Ani Koziel.

   Although the upperclassmen may be the ones writing and directing, the underclassmen have a significant position in the process as actors. “In full scale plays, there are many characters and kids auditioning, making the chances of getting a large role slim. With the student directed plays, freshmen have the opportunity to play main roles and can expand their acting abilities with the help from upperclassmen as their directors” Dawley said.  

    Whether they are writing, directing or acting, the students of SHS have been working nonstop to perfect their plays, offering a fresh take on drama club for the cast and audience alike.