The Nettleton High School Theater program put on a play October 14th through the sixteenth. Greek Gods, a murder mystery and modern day New York City clashed creatively in the play, Pandemonium. Pandemonium was a production that was a long time coming, the preparation lasting from May up until the day before the shows were hosted. According to Taylor Graham, theater director and teacher, students and staff worked over one hundred hours to pull this play off. While Miss Graham worked over the summer, as soon as school started students got straight to work on their roles of memorizing lines or building and decorating set pieces. Graham stated that her favorite part of the show preparation was being able to hand the students their parts and watch them make it their own and bring it to life.
Miss Graham said the most invaluable student help she received came from her stage manager, Emalee, and her head construction crew member, Taryn McDowell. Emalee’s role in the play’s production was to be an organizer and help students better work their roles and give positive, constructive feedback.
Taryn McDowell’s role was to build props for the stage and make sure decoration of the stage was going smoothly. According to him, the most difficult part was the stress of tasks building up on top of each other close to show day, and also completing those tasks. According to him, the only way he was able to pull off was some “luck and determination.” While it was stressful, he said it was enjoyable and a fun experience. Taryn says he joined the play so he could feel like he was a part of something bigger and being helpful in a way he was good at, considering he’s been doing construction with his father since he was young. His favorite part of being a crew member was the chance to express his abilities and do something helpful.
While these two were major helpers in the stress levels Miss Graham experienced, nothing could have been pulled off without all the other dedicated and hardworking students helping with crew and being a part of the play.
Lydia Martin, the student who played Sargent Marz within the play, said her favorite part was the socialization and fun memories she made with the people around her. While it was difficult, hard work and determination helped her get through the difficulties of anxiety and stage fright while she easily got along with the people around her and built new friendships. Lydia Martin said if she could go back and change something, it would be studying her lines more. While students didn’t get to choose their parts, Marz seemed to fit Lydia extremely well, although she said she originally chose Bacchus, the God of partying and the villain of the play. Lydia said her reasoning for joining was that theater is her passion and she would love to be a part of the next production.
Xadie Hogan played Artemis, the head of the FBI looking into the murder. Xadie says that the hardest part was probably working as a team and learning cues. She says that, if she could go back, she would fix the few lines she messed up, although she enjoyed her role. Xadie says she enjoys acting and will definitely join the next play.
While we all love the heroes of the story, we also have to love the villains. Nicky Fischer was the star of the show, Bacchus, the God of Partying. Nicky said the hardest part to them was their stage fright and getting all of their lines memorized. Ironically enough, our player for Bacchus wanted to be Marz originally, just as Marz wanted to be Bacchus. While it would have been an interesting change, both actors played their parts beautifully. Nicky joined the play because they love acting and had a lot of fun during production and said they would definitely love to be a part of future plays.
Although the two major roles had been filled, there were also ensemble parts and crew members that helped to support the play as a whole. An ensemble member who wishes to remain anonymous said the hardest part was trying to act natural, show emotions without taking away attention from main characters and learning the movements of the play. Since they’re new to the school, they joined theater as a way to help become a part of the school and because it sounded fun. They would even want to work on the next one!
Overall, the theater experience was something that brought students together and helped them bring out their talents. While stressful sometimes, the end product is always enjoyable and worth it.
Writers: Levi Trevino, Moxxie Tyler
Edited by Hanna Pamplin
