Student-Run Productions

Student-run productions 

As the next school year rolls around, not only are thespians thinking about what school supplies they'll need, but they're also thinking about what monologue they should use for their audition. At Trumbull High School the fall plays start as soon as school starts. Trumbull High School has a tradition in which all fall productions are student run. The directors, producers and obviously the actors are all students. With the help from the Trumbull High School faculty, these shows are able to finally make it onto a stage. I had the great opportunity of directing "The Great Pie Robbery or, We Really Knead The Dough" This show is your classic hero versus village where the hero swoops in and saves the day. I decided to leave the spot light for the fall play and I try something new. Being a director was much harder than I expected. There was so much to be done in such a short period of time, it's a miracle that shows ever make it onto a stage! Being a director gave me such an appreciation for all the hard work that goes on backstage/prior to a show. There are so many things that a director needs to think about from characters to staging to costumes and emotions. I learned a lot from this experience such has as having to make decision on the spot that would better the group and the show and also how to communicate better with people and just just tell, but to show. This experience was probably the hardest experience of my time in the theatre world, but also the most rewarding. Being able to work on a show for so long and finally being able to see it happen is such a great feeling. This production was geared specifically toward children, so we took our show on the road and preformed at our local elementary schools. Seeing these kids faces just light up, made all the hard work and effort pay off. Something so simple as a group of high school students  being silly on stage and making those kids smile, will forever have an impact in my life. As an actress we don't preform for ourselves, we preform for others. At that moment all the stress and worries of putting this show together didn't matter anymore. What mattered was seeing those faces light up. As my senior year comes to a close, I can truly say directing was one of my favorite experiences. 

Andrea and the cast of The Great Pie Robbery... at their readthrough

-Andrea Alicea

Senior at Trumbull High School

President of the NPT Youth Board