Lowry’s drama club succeeds once again

Lowry’s drama club succeeds once again

By Jovi Anderson Posted March 10, 2023

Lowry High’s drama and stagecraft worked very hard to create a play titled “My Name is Rumpelstiltskin”, and the play was definitely a success. “My Name is Rumpelstiltskin” is a play about a small wizard who wants to become the most powerful wizard in the land. In order to become this all-powerful wizard, Rumpelstiltskin talked to a witch and she instructed that he must have the firstborn of a royal family. If he fails, she will take him and he will not become an all-powerful wizard.

Rumplestiltskin watches as Prince Tom falls in love with the miller’s daughter, Laura, but since she and her mother are poor and the Prince is from a rich family, they are unable to be together. Rumpelstiltskin finds Laura and gives her gold for an apple that Prince Tom gave her, telling her that whenever she would be asked where the gold came from, she had to promise to say she made it from straw.

Upon hearing rumors about Laura turning straw into gold, the Queen holds Laura hostage and instructs her to make gold from straw, and Laura then repeatedly gives Rumpelstiltskin her possessions so he would make her gold. This continues until Laura has nothing left to give, and Rumpelstiltskin suggests that he have her firstborn child in return for the gold.

Kaylee Radtke played the evil Queen who exploits Laura for her gold. Radtke also played the lead in Scrooge in the fall. Both of these characters are somewhat evil.

“I like playing the antagonist because it’s easier for people to hate you than for people to like you in a play,” said Radtke.

Deisy Ruiz in a scene where
her daughter Laura gets taken
captive by the queen./Ron Espinola • The Brand
Deisy Ruiz in a scene where her daughter Laura gets taken captive by the queen./Ron Espinola • The Brand

When Laura has her firstborn son a year later, Rumpelstiltskin comes to get the child and Laura refuses to give her son away. Rumpelstiltskin gives her three attempts to guess his name, and on the third try, she guesses correctly. Rumpelstiltskin then gets taken by the witch to whom he made the promise, and Laura and Tom live happily ever after with their son.

The play was presented to both regular audiences as well as elementary schools in town. This was exciting and different for the actors. Actor Sasha Contreras particularly enjoyed the younger audiences.

“My favorite part of the play was interacting with the children,” said Contreras. “Always love to see their reactions.”

Lowry’s drama and stagecraft club worked hard to make this play come to be. Although they did not have a lot of time to make the play happen, it was definitely a success.

Jazmin Ruiz who is in Stagecraft and also plays the Prime Minister thinks they did well considering there wasn’t as much time for this production. This affected both Stagecraft and Drama in relation to memorizing lines. The actors are allowed to improvise a little if someone forgot their lines.

“We didn’t have a lot of time to create props and scenery,” said Ruiz. ”We had to build trees from scratch and paint and move around the throne and jester bed [which are heavy].”

Mikayla Dossey and Jacob Woolsey
have a conversation in the forest
and Laura fi nds out that Prince Tom
wants to marry her. /Jovi Anderson •
The Brand
Mikayla Dossey and Jacob Woolsey have a conversation in the forest and Laura finds out that Prince Tom wants to marry her. /Jovi Anderson • The Brand

Although stagecraft didn’t have much time to build the set, they were still able to accomplish nice pieces that held up. 

“Our sets and props were fantastic and held up through the whole week thanks to Stagecraft’s hard work,” said Ms. Kelly Bales.

Not only does stagecraft have to build the sets, but they also have to run through all the lines in the play to imagine what kind of props will be needed. 

“A lot of preparation goes into producing a play,” said stagecraft member Sofia Mayorga. “First we always have to read through the script and then we can envision what type of props are needed.” 

Stagecraft works just as hard as the actors when it comes to performing the play a total of 15 times. 

“It was extremely exhausting to perform the play 15 times, but it was fulfilling too,” said Mayorga. 

Lead actors also grew tired after performing the play. Lead actor Jacob Woolsey was tired after performing so often but takes into special consideration the benefits of performing it 15 times. 

“It was pretty tiring but it was fun because each time you performed you grew more confident,” said Woolsey. “As we performed it more each time we added in our own lines and you were less nervous each time.” 

Drama and stagecraft director Ms. Kelly Bales also noted the growing confidence in the actors as they worked through the play.

“It was wonderful to see how much my actors have grown since the play in the fall,” said Bales. “They became very comfortable with their characters and were able to add some improv and nuances which made the play even better.” 

Bales was extremely pleased with the results of the play and very proud of all the hard work the class put in. 

“They are an incredible group of students, and I’m extremely proud to be their director,” said Bales.

Mikayla Dossey, Deisy Ruiz, Joseph
Vankuiken and Kaylee Radke look at other
actors in the scene. /Jovi Anderson • The
Brand
Mikayla Dossey, Deisy Ruiz, Joseph Vankuiken and Kaylee Radke look at other actors in the scene. /Jovi Anderson • The Brand