Harleen Kaur and Christine Do
The PHHS Advanced Drama class held its annual winter showcase on Dec. 7 in the L-Building.
“Part of learning about theater is learning how to produce theater, so it’s important for actors to learn about the whole process. The drama showcase gives them a chance to direct, work on light design, costume design and all the facets of what it means to produce theater,” said Anna Woods, the drama teacher.
This is another show that the Drama Department puts on besides the fall play and the spring musical. In this play titled The Elf on the Shelf Must Die, parents surprised twins Sammy and Luke with an Elf on the Shelf toy named Pip that would report their actions to Santa and decide whether they were on the naughty or nice list. In an attempt to keep Pip quiet, Sammy accidentally kills the elf and embarks on a journey with Luke and Benny to return the dead elf to Walmart. The play was performed during 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th period.
“This is an opportunity for those advanced drama students who do not participate in the play or musical to showcase their talents on stage,” commented junior Amanda Gill, a member of the costume crew.
Unlike previous years, the showcase script was not made by the advanced drama students themselves; instead, they bought the script from a publisher. Going through a dozen scripts, the drama crew finally found one that they thought would be able to spread the Christmas spirit.
“We spent two hours going through scripts till we found this one which made us all laugh, and we decided this was the perfect script,” said lights and sounds director Chris Nguyen.
Countless hours and weeks were spent on the preparation of this show, from finding costumes that fit the story to the delivery of the performance itself. The drama students have worked hard in directing and practicing for this performance.
“We had to run around Walmart for three hours to look for costumes that are affordable and fit production,” stated Amanda.
The audience thoroughly enjoyed the play, clapping and gasping along as the kids fight the elves.
“I was surprised when they threw Pip’s body around as if she were actually dead,” said junior Nghi Nguyen.
For this showcase, the Drama department and Insane Ink have teamed up together to put on an evening performance called Winterfest along with other Christmas festivities such as face painting, family games, and handing out hot chocolate.
“It’s a chance for the parents of the students to come and enjoy the performance since many cannot make it to the morning performance,” stated Ms. Woods.
The Drama Department hoped to bring some cheer and joy into Piedmont Hills before finals came along.
“We hope that everyone comes out to the morning performance or the evening show to kick off the holiday season. It’s our way of saying ‘Happy Holidays’,” said Ms. Woods.
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