This year the drama department is moving backwards - in time that is.
Planning to produce six to eight shows this year, the program kicked off this season with the Twentieth Century production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Nineteenth Century's Little Women will play Dec. 12, 13,14 and 16, and will be followed by Shakespeare's Fifteenth Century classic The Taming of the Shrew .
"This is the first time Little Women will be done at the high school," said director Valeri McGarvey. "I hope that we can do justice to the classic story and bring it to life in a way that will really please the audience."
Rodger Wheeler's Little Women is the story of a family living in the tumultuous times of the Civil War. The play follows the lives of four girls and their experiences of love, death and other struggles.
The show will differ from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory mainly in the cast size. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had a 41- person cast while Little Women will have only 13.
"I am really looking forward to playing a character a little bit more lifelike than Willy Wonka (in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)," said senior Josh Nickerson, who plays the part of John Brook in Little Women. "It will be a nice change to have a small cast, than the 40-some people in the last play."
"(Little Women) was written over 100 years ago," said McGarvey. "It is the simple story of a family and their struggles through their father being at war. They have such down-to-earth values and a strong love for each other - it is a very touching and sentimental story."
"This is a truly wonderful experience for me because it is my first main role," said junior Laura Paisley, who is Meg, the oldest sister in Little Women. "This will be a good learning experience through memorizing my lines and gaining emotional depth in my acting."
"This is an incredible story with an incredible cast," said sophomore Emily Cummings, who will play the lead daughter, Jo. "I hope that we can do the story justice. I am terrified."