Drama Club's Competition Show

The drama club at Melrose High School is entering a competition that brings together schools from all over the state. They must perform a 40 minute play of their choice which is separate from the 5 minutes at the beginning to set up and take down the set.

Mr. Daly, a history teacher at MHS is the head of our school’s production and even wrote the play that will be performed. “It is an original piece called ‘Hide and Seek’. It is a show that I actually wrote in high school and preformed my senior year. Four years ago we did re-writes to it and this year students came to me after reading the play and asked if we could perform it again.” Mr. Daly was inspired to write the play when a student in his freshmen year art class passed away from a drunk-driving accident.

The play tells the story of Kate, a girl who is coming to terms with a recent drunk driving accident she was in, that killed her best friend Sarah. It also shows how other girls in the school are dealing with it. “The students felt like it was something that still spoke to the generation. We did some re-writes to it, taking the 90’s out of it and now taking the 2000’s out of it. It includes reoccurring themes that are relatable for high school students,” says Daly.

Francesca Rizzo a cast member describes the play as “really moving; it shows what it is like behind the scenes at the high school. It includes a lot of problems kids go through like depression, anxiety and stress. I feel like at the high school level we all have some form of those things and if we don’t, then we know someone who does.” Rizzo plays the role of Abby, a close friend of Sarah’s. “She is very blunt with everything; it almost is like she doesn’t have a filter, but she is very understanding .”

The competition works by having a bunch of schools competing at different sites and at the end, 3 from each site are picked to move on to the next round. The only rules are that the play cannot be a musical and can only be performed by high school students.

“We get up as early as 5:30 to get on the bus and go to the location we are performing at. The first show starts around 9am and basically every hour there is a new play. Afterwards there is a dinner, dancing and awards. We go home around 11pm." Daly explains. 

By: Laura Lombardi