March winds and april showers bring all the…May time plays?

On May 6, senior Tyler Ellis will be presenting “[Title of Show],” and on May 13 and 14 advanced acting will be hosting their annual May drama showcase. Both shows are student directed.

This year’s showcase will feature both a show called “Girls Like That” and a second half filled with student monologues and possible short scenes.

Because the May acting shows tend to be smaller, actors typically focus on projects that they are more passionate about, junior Cole Bloomfield said.

“May plays are really flexible,” Bloomfield said. “They’re still professional but not as structured as our other plays.”

“Girls Like That” is a relevant show about adolescence and growing up in the age of technology, senior Grace Sanford said. It features an ensemble of girls in the advanced acting class.

“It’s about how things can go wrong, how group mentality works and how situations, especially online and cyber bullying, can escalate to a place where nobody thinks can happen,” Sanford said.

Because “Girls Like That” involves only girls, the boys in advanced acting are developing the second half. Bloomfield said that the guys are still figuring out and experimenting with what they want to do, but the general consensus at the time of publishing is a combination of short scenes and monologues.

Sanford said that unlike the fall and spring plays for which actors are given ten weeks to prepare, the May drama showcase is developed in a short five weeks.

“Generally we do smaller things and things with more people in them so people have less lines,” Sanford said.

In addition, the May plays are unique because the whole class works together on one project, as opposed to separate casts working on the bigger plays, Bloomfield said.

Sanford said that “Girls Like That” features thirteen girls and can be quite complicated to keep track of at times.

“It’s challenging because there is so many of them on stage which is just hard for me visually to create stage pictures that are interesting, but it is also sort of a blessing because there is so much talent in the cast,” Sanford said. “Everyone is helpful in a way so it is definitely a shared effort.”

Besides working on the May drama festival in class, Ellis is directing and starring in “[Title of Show],” featuring sophomore Maggie Lucas and seniors Yael Gordon and Daniel Champion.

“It’s a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical,”   musical director sophomore Kay Sibal said. “The concept is so strange but hilarious.”

The musical involves only a piano and the actors’ voices, which Sibal said leads to really great harmonies.

“I have had a really fun time working on it so hopefully people will have a fun time watching it,” Lucas said.

The musical will be humorous for everyone because it is filled with not only theater references but also dumb jokes, Lucas said.

“There are some good messages in it about doing what you love to do and forgetting about your insecurities,” Lucas said.