The Curtain Opens on CHS Theatre 2022-23

Ollie Dorman, Social Media Manager and Staff Writer

As the CHS school year kicks off, clubs begin and theatre shows start. So far No Home but Ropes and Stakes, a student directed piece written by Stella Gunn, has begun rehearsing, as well as a Book Of Will, the show CHS’s Theatre will be presenting for the Virginia Theatre Association competition at the end of October. For students that missed the opportunity to audition for these shows, Tech Tuesdays are the next best thing. Every Tuesday in the blackbox, kids who want to get involved with behind the scenes work are able to attend and help out.

No Home and Book Of Will aren’t the only shows for this year. Fiddler on the Roof is CHS Theatre’s big spring musical this year, and it is open for all to join. Auditions begin on November 1st. For those looking for a more intimate show with a smaller cast, The Play That Goes Wrong is the perfect production. In this whimsical play, characters “must battle against technical gaffes, forgotten lines, and sabotaging scenery in a quest to arrive all in one piece at the final curtain call,” says Playbill. 

Behind the scenes action is found nowhere better than during MTE (Musical Theatre Ensemble) shows. While MTE shows are not open to everyone and only students of the class are permitted to act in them, the crew is open to everybody who finds interest in lighting, set design, sound, costuming, and more. Akari Hernandez, vice president of the thespian society, is hoping that the CHS technical theatre department will grow this year, encouraging students to join so they can “learn to use tools, how to build sets, how to crew a show, and all these things. […] You don’t have to be in a theatre class to be part of a theatre.”

The thespian society is a board of students elected by David Becker, the head of all things theatre for CHS. This year’s thespian society is led by Violet Cragheadway, Akari Hernandez, Roxie Beebe-Center, and Allison Dugger, with Gian Serrano acting as head of the Friday morning improv club. These students work to help fundraise for the theatre department, as well as to get students involved. Allison Dugger wants to get people from all over the school to join theatre this year: “I think there’s a lot of people out there who want to join theatre, but maybe are nervous or don’t know how to start or whatnot, and I really want to get people who are in, like, engineering who don’t understand how their skills in engineering can be applied to technical theatre. That’s really my big focus, I just want us to create a bigger community and family.”

Students can come out on November 1st and 2nd for the next auditions of the year for CHS Theatre’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. Showepmu your support for the theatre department by auditioning this year and getting involved backstage!