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To close out this semester, the theater group is performing two productions this month. Students have been rehearsing 4-6 times a week and have put in great effort to ensure their performances are perfect.

“This month we will have two dramatic readings,” said theater teacher Patricia Taitano, “it’s very different from your average play.” Dramatic readings allow the performer to carry a book or binder of the performance piece. The actors take on their characters and act out the dialogue. This dramatic reading will include lights and sound, but the stage will be void of stage props. 

The students have been challenged to perform “Everyman” and “A Chrismas Carol” with one day’s rest in between. “Everyman” is a play that is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, a character who represents all mankind. In the course of the action, Everyman tries to convince characters who represent character traits and virtues, to accompany him in the hope of improving his life. The audience awaits to see what characters will remain at Everyman’s side through the end.

“We are going to have several students play the role of Everyman, to represent all of mankind,” Taitano said.

“A Christmas Carol” will be an enjoyable radio reading, with all actors dressed in black, and only lights and sounds used for the production. The traditional Christmas play follows the life of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser of a man who is presented with a chance to change his life’s direction during the Christmas holiday. His visits with ghosts allow him to witness cruel moments of his life that have led him to become the sour man he is. He is presented with the opportunity to change his ways.

“Although I am very excited about the Everyman play, I am most excited about getting to play the Ghost of Christmas Present in the Christmas Carol,” said sophomore Crystal Martinez.

Martinez, a theater production veteran who has this year moved onstage as a performer, added that the radio show feels a lot like a podcast. “In between certain scenes we are planning on putting in commercials, so that’s going to be cool. And the commercials are all made up,” said Martinez.

The Everyman dramatic read is next Tuesday at 7 pm and the DSAC. A Christmas Carol is set for Dec 16 at 7 pm also at the DSAC.