Editor’s Note: The Trenton Republican-Times has teamed up with the Trenton High School journalism class to work with students as they write news and feature stories, some of which will be published in the R-T. This is the first story to be printed in the R-T through the new program.
by Serenity Marsh
Trenton High School
“Hallmarks of Horror” is a play on the structure of almost every scary movie you’ve ever seen. But it is safe to say that there was no predicting the nightmare of 2020. COVID-19 was truly a punch in the face, causing the Trenton High School Drama Club’s performance to be postponed almost five months. Though the students were still able to perform the play successfully in December, a number of challenges presented itself. It was hard to find a proper location and especially difficult to work around quarantine, but the future is bright for the drama club as they look forward to some new additions to the school.
R-T Photo/Lexi Gott (THS)
Seniors Travis Gifford and Kayleigh Snuffer are excited about “going to Tahiti” as part of the Trenton High School Drama Club performance of “Hallmarks of Horror”, held on Dec. 11, 2020 in the Rissler Elementary School gym. The cast and crew faced many challenges as they prepared for the performance.
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Finding a place to hold the play was a lot harder than it was expected to be. The drama club originally used the Hoover Theatre at the local library to perform, but due to COVID they were unable to practice there. This was one of the most stressful obstacles that the club faced, because they had no idea where the play was going to be held.
“We definitely had the challenge of finding a location to use. Where we thought we would be didn’t work out so we were able to find a stage to make it work,” Drama Teacher Tashyana Dowell stated.
The drama students then moved to the elementary school gym which created problems of its own. The stage wasn’t very big and there was very little space to work with. There were a lot of problems designing the backdrop for the play and making it look good, considering they had very little time. Club members even shared the elementary school gym with the cheerleaders, which made it hard for both them, and the cheer squad, to concentrate.
Many drama students were also unable to attend practices, and even the actual performance, because of COVID. This made it hard to see the play come together. It was difficult to find time to practice with everyone, which put the cast behind schedule quite a bit. They even postponed the play again for several weeks due to the majority of the cast being quarantined! Sophomore Lydia Leininger was unable to attend opening night and had to be replaced on such a short notice.
“…COVID affected me personally a lot because I had a part in the play and I ended up getting quarantined for the performance..,” Lydia said.
Mrs. Dowell had junior Joseph Pattison fill in for Lydia just a week before the performance. This created a lot of stress for him and the other cast members. They all had to make adjustments and work very hard to make do with what they were given.
“We lost a couple people right before the play and even though we missed them terribly, you know, Joey Pattison was able to learn a part in three days, and we all just thought he did fantastic with that,” Mrs. Dowell commented.
One of the biggest additions to THS is a brand new Performing Arts Center! Setting aside the difficulties the drama club faced, the hope is that the students will have an amazing stage to call their very own. This will allow them to easily access a stage for all of the Club needs, and never have to worry about finding a comfortable location again. Not to mention, it holds approximately 500 people, which will increase the capacity of the performances tremendously! The drama students can’t wait to use the PAC for future performances. Their next play is a humorous murder mystery that interacts with audience members and gives them an opportunity to be a part of the play themselves! “Til’ Death do us Part” is planned to be presented on April 30.
“I am excited for the play we picked out and I’ll be excited to use this new stage,” Lydia stated.
It is obvious that the Trenton High School Drama Club did not have it easy when it came to presenting “Hallmarks of Horror.” But even though they had to do the play five months later, with a small stage and minimal people, they still managed to make it absolutely amazing. They all worked so hard and pushed through the Horror of 2020 with smiles on their faces.