This spring, students are showing their creativity through play writing. Student one act plays are a yearly account for the drama department. The drama department is not new to student-directed plays this school year. In September, seniors Tryston Mitchell and Creed Ekerberg worked on setting up and performing a one act play called A Zoo Story.

COVID-19 precautions are being heavily enforced to make sure everyone that attends the performance is safe. On Mar. 1, NHS went into the green phase of learning, meaning all flexible students attend school in person every day. Masks are still required to be worn by all students and staff while on school grounds. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the one act spring plays were canceled, but this year they were given the go ahead. 

“We’re selling tickets online to try and make sure we’re prepared to distance, so we can plan on how many we’ll have,” drama teacher Jessica Heidrick said. “Masks are required, of course, and we’ll have sanitizers on hand. We’ve also split the six one acts into two performance weekends in hopes to limit audience sizes. As long as we can distance, since we’re in green, I think we’ll be ok. One acts usually have a bit of a smaller audience.”

The plays that are being performed are completely directed by students, with little advice or notes from Heidrick. Students are meant to learn and explore the different opportunities of directing while being their own directors for the plays. Currently, there are six students that are working on one act plays that will be performed. Everyone in the drama department has their own role in making the show function as smooth as possible.

“We have the whole thespian/drama department in it, either working as directors, actors or crew,” junior Morgan Hiebert said. “My favorite part is being able to have fun with my cast and see the whole thing come together.”

As of the moment, there will be four different shows to showcase the one acts. A show Thursday Mar. 11 and Friday Mar. 12 and two more shows following spring break on Saturday Mar. 27 and Sunday Mar. 28. Each show will be performed at 7 p.m. There are approximately 15 actors for each performance. 

“At times theater can be stressful because it can be very intense, but I love it,” sophomore Lynn Morford said. “With acting you get to delve into all kinds of character analysis and understanding the story and dissecting how a character acts and why. I think that part of what makes a good actor is the ability to think like a character, to understand them. Similarly as a director I get to analyze how the characters act and how the world looks and how they interact with it. I get to watch from the audience and show the actors how they should be on stage and advise on how they could act. Seeing how they act and take that direction and their ability to analyze and make their own decisions on what a character does, is amazing.”