Theatre, an often overlooked art, has certainly evolved from Greek men clothed in goat skins to the humble community of artists dispersed among countries. Now, the Greek-influenced art has infiltrated places near and dear to our hearts, places like Walton-Verona High School. The most recent project by the Drama Club, the One Act Plays, featured a whirlwind of shows including The Unintended Video, Pity the Fool, Cinderella Wore Combat Boots, and Drive in. Each performance drew the audience in with colorful characters and made them stay for the humor. From a prospective queen to the perfect depiction of young love, the One Act Plays were indisputably a work in which all efforts were utilized to produce an entertaining experience for the audience.
For many students, theater is a community in which the opportunity to take on characteristics they normally would not express is available. Caleb Butler acting in Drive In describes Chuck, a character in the show: “My role is pretty much the complete opposite of me. He’s a very bad joker and very extroverted and very confident. He’s just a lot of fun to play!” Also in Drive In, Landon Tingle describes the person he brings to life: “My character is like a lover-boy and I don’t want to say it compares to me as an actual person, but I feel like I can play the role pretty well because I can relate to the character.” Of the One Acts, The Unintended Video is played by Olivia Hedges and Emma Wolfe.
When asked about what theater has taught her, Emma responded with years of plays and musicals under her belt: “I’ve just learned that theater and performing arts are like the best things ever and they help so many people! It’s a great form of therapy. I would recommend it to anyone that is thinking about it.” Her co-actor, Olivia, has been acting since third grade and plans on doing theater for a career. Behind the scenes, senior Annie Kunkel directed The Unintended Video and gave some words on her role in the show: “Being a director, I’ve learned that you have to voice your opinion and you have to be direct, no pun intended. You really have to put yourself out there, trusting yourself and the people you work with.”
The girls producing The Unintended Video are not the only seniors, Izzy Sharon illustrates her reason for being involved: “I wanted to make people laugh, so I chose to go into drama and I have not regretted it since. I love being myself, being creative because no one can judge me.” Alana Eggers also voiced how welcoming the environment is: “We accept each other and it is a full open space to be whoever you want and do whatever you want.” The above seniors learned a lot from their early years in the Drama Club at WVHS and many of the underclassmen are learning the same lessons now.
While watching sophomore Emma Messer on stage, it may seem difficult to believe how new she is to acting: “This is my first year. Communication is key, especially between Mr. Kneisley and the characters and the people that you’re working with. It’s kind of like an ecosystem and if one person is not communicating, it all kind of gets all jumbled.” Many other actors agree with the analogy, often depicting Drama Club as a family. In many families, there are a few members with main-character qualities and Gonzalo Parra is one of them. He plays Prince Charming in Cinderella Wore Combat Boots and when kindly clarifying how he would like his picture taken, he instructed, “Make sure you get my left side.” Working with all of the many talents within Drama Club is a task Mr. Kneisley is willing to conquer, raising the audience’s expectations year after year.
Mr. Kneisley, the director of such eccentric performances, appreciates his part, saying, “Watching them grow and develop as they start to understand that when they go on stage as a character they get to escape from what their normal day to day life is and it’s neat to see them sort of come alive.” He inspires students to be courageous enough to grab everyone’s attention and say something important: “Somebody that you would never guess in a million years has this driving personna inside them that wants to be on stage and perform for people because in the hallway, they never speak or in the classroom, they never speak.” Mr. Kneisly’s words demonstrate exactly what happens when we give others a chance to have the spotlight and in the One Act Plays, the spotlight was shared with not only the actors on stage, but the people in the audience resonating with the characters in the stories.
