EV Drama perform guide to high school

            High school isn’t always easy, nor simple to understand. Fortunately, the English Valleys Drama Department provided some helpful tip for survival in The Hitchhikers Guide to High School this past weekend.

            Unlike in past productions put on by EV Drama, The Hitchhikers Guide to High School featured a skit comedy format as the cast tackled the big issues such as what not to wear to class, bullying, bus drivers, inappropriate dancing, you name it.

“I always try to do something we haven’t done before and we haven’t done any skit comedies since I’ve been the director,” EV Drama Director Carrie Burdick said. “Kids love to make fun of high school, so this was a fun play for them to do and they have been begging me to do straight-on comedy.”

As four students head to bed before their very first day of high school, worries plague their sleep, until an alien spaceship flies in from above bringing two unusual characters along with them. They present their book, “Hitchhikers Guide to High School” to help them through this difficult time and take them on a journey they will never forget. One of the authors and guides is played by Lyla Klett, a senior who could make the character all for herself.

“She’s a character I could create out of my mind because it didn’t come with a direct personality,” Klett said. I tried to create someone slightly sassy, done with everything and thought high school was stupid.”

Klett and her castmates began rehearsing after Christmas break, working on their lines, cues and a smaller set than previous productions. However, Brayden Fisher stayed plenty busy as Stage Manager through the play’s use of various props and multiple scenes. Among the biggest hurdles for Fisher and the crew was the space ship, which until a week before their first performance he had believed was cut out completely from the script. Fortunately, a creative solution came to Fisher.

“When the space ship runs arcoss the stage, we use a fishing line with one guy feeding it and the other reeling it in,” Fisher said. “We are running back and forth on stage to make sure it works right. It ended up hitting Charlie (Axmear) in the face.”