In the gutter, but looking at the stars
Drama perseveres despite budget shortfalls
April 5, 2022
Drama has a new play coming this spring season. “Peter and the Starcatcher” is a comedic play with familiar characters like Captain Hook and Peter Pan. There hasn’t been a full-scale production since fall of 2019, making this show high pressure for the department.
Right before quarantine, Shorewood Drama was two weeks from performances which were postponed and then canceled. Due to this, they spent quite a bit of money on a musical and never made it back from ticket sales as it was never performed. This year, they had to start from the beginning again. This year’s budget was quite low, making it difficult to plan a large-scale performance with everything from royalties to costumes. ASB gave the program a loan, so they could perform “Peter and the Starcatcher” which is a play with music, instead of a musical which is usually the spring performance.
“It’s really nice to have something resembling the musical in my last year of high school,” said Sheridan Moore, senior. For seniors in drama, this might be their first actual show in person with fewer COVID restrictions. “We will be able to perform without a mask so people can hear us. I believe we are supposed to be able to have full capacity in the audience which should help with making it feel more normal,” Moore added. With this last show of the school year, it’ll be a goodbye show for the seniors.
Moore plays Alf, one of the side characters in the show. “It’s going to be a part that will take some getting used to for me and learning, but I am excited to play Alf,” Moore said. She has also been a part of drama since freshman year and is very excited for the new show. “[My first show] was really rewarding…[it] made me come back every year since. It’s the connection that I have with the community and other actors,” Moore said.
Another actor, sophomore Duncan Thorvilson, plays Peter. Even though Thorvilson is new to Shorewood Drama, he got one of the lead roles. “Well I’ve kind of always liked entertaining people, making them laugh, so being able to do a comedy is just kind of like yeah this will be a lot of fun and I’ll get to do what I love plus it’s a pretty great community, a lot of fun people,” Thorvilson said.
Many Drama members are worried about if there will be another lockdown or strengthening of restrictions in which the show would be canceled and money would be lost. “This really needs to be a good show and this needs to happen,” Thorvilson said.
“Because if we don’t [perform] effectively I don’t know what their consequences will be but the Drama program could be in danger and that would not go well,” Moore said.
Peter and the Starcatcher runs May 12-15 and 19-22. Listen to the announcements for how to purchase tickets. Said Thorvilson: “I’m excited to present this to everyone.”
