The Greenwood High School theater program is moving forward with its fall production despite severe storm damage that left the school auditorium unusable, reports Trever Capien in the student newspaper at the Indiana High School.
Principal Micheal Gasaway explained that storms tore open an exterior wall by the stage and caused heavy flooding, leaving the department without its standard performance and rehearsal space and putting upcoming events in jeopardy.
Alongside the structural challenges, the department is navigating major artistic changes. Alumna and English teacher Grace Allen, a GHS graduate, has stepped in as the new director, shifting the fall production from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Importance of Being Earnest.
Though some students initially lamented the change, the cast has rallied behind the new script, which was revealed via a series of clues on the program’s Instagram page.
“I was originally disappointed because I was really excited for the Shakespeare costumes and setting in the Midsummers Night Dream. But now that I am more familiar with the show, I am just as excited for The Importance of Being Earnest as I was for Midsummer’s Night Dream,” the paper quoted one junior thespian as saying.
Because the high school stage is out of commission, rehearsals are currently taking place in alternative campus spaces while organizers finalize an off-site performance venue, likely Franklin College or a local church.
While cast members acknowledge potential hurdles, The Importance of Being Earnest is scheduled to run from November 13 to 15.