By Danielle Scott
In recent years under the instruction of Ms. Kelly Bales, Lowry Drama and Stagecraft has flourished and kept the auditorium full of people waiting to see their next creation.
Their upcoming play is more complicated than their previous ones but they are working hard to perfect it.
“There is a lot of choreography that goes into sword fighting, so we really had to practice where and how they stood, where they moved during the duels, and how they delivered their lines during the duels,” said Bales.
For this year’s fall performance, they made a great display of the Three Musketeers. Students were excited to see their newest production, and the Drama class had been working hard to make it their best yet.
“I’m actually looking forward to the performances more than anything else,” said Morgan Rorex.
Rorex will be playing Cookie the narrator, this will allow her to be creative in the telling of the story and make sure the audience can easily follow what is going on.
“I like that my character helps to tell the story while adding a bit of humor to an already funny play,” said Rorex.
Rorex’s character is known to be a little sassy and high-tempered, her character often argues with the people off of the stage.
“I think all the improv that everyone does is what’s making it special,” said Rorex.
“The Three Musketeers: All Swash and No Buckle” follows a character named D’Artagnan, who made different friends, enemies, and even fell in love on his journey as a new musketeer.
“Our play is a bit of a spoof of the story and includes quite a bit of hilarity,” said Bales. “It’s going to be a really fun play with some great surprises.”
A lot of work is put into making a cohesive play, but Stagecraft, Art Club and actors have been putting in the hours to make it the best one yet.
“Stagecraft has worked very hard to create 1600s France, and we’ve had some help from Ms. [Julia] Topholm and her art students who painted our beautiful mural on the back wall of the stage,” said Bales.
Art Club always pitches in to help paint a mural to be the backdrop of all of their plays, where they painted forests for Robin Hood, and now a landscape of France to really set the scene.
“This play also gives quite a bit of opportunity for members of Stagecraft to step out from behind the curtains,” said Bales. “We have members of Stagecraft who are guards, cheerleaders, and other extras, as well as creating sound effects in front of the curtains.”
Putting on a play requires all hands on deck, and everyone is playing their part with their own personal twists on their roles.
“They also had to work on the delivery of their lines since it is a comedic play,” said Bales. “The way certain lines are delivered is crucial to the audience’s understanding of the joke, so it is incredibly important that the actors understand what they are saying and how to say it for the greatest effect.”
Mikayla Dossey played Constance, the Queen of France who sent the Musketeers on a mission to retrieve a lost necklace.
“In order to make my character unique I try not to be predictable with my lines and change them up once in a while, along with really understanding her character,” said Dossey.
All of the work that they have put in was put on display in early December, it was heavily applauded and the audience was on the edge of their seats throughout the show.
Until the next performance is announced, Drama and Stagecraft should be proud of the work they put forth.
