The student news website of Omaha Central High School

Drama students produce music for, direct winter school production

February 5, 2019

Another young talent shared her passion with the play, “A Voice in the Dark,” on the first Friday and Saturday of February. Stella Earhart used her experience in theater to help direct the play alongside her peers and Scott Mead, the drama teacher. After months of hard work, Earhart hopes to work as student director again, saying, “I have a great passion for directing and I thought high school theater was a great place to get experience.” 

Through hard work and advocation for herself, Earhart was able to convince Mead to reinstate the position of student director in the play. Years acting and directing in theater prompted Earhart to approach this position with confidence. She had to sell herself to Mead, filling out multiple applications and appealing to him as a student and an assistant director. As a student of Mead’s, Earhart is a diligent and attentive student in class. From her time in Mead’s class, Earhart recalled, “He had told me in the past that he thinks the best way to start directing is to ask someone to let you assistant direct. So, I asked him.” 

The play, “A Voice in the Dark,” was put on by the school’s drama department this year. “A Voice in the Dark” was about the Salem Witch Trials and is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old girl named Abigail Hobbs. At the beginning of the play, smoke began to fill the auditorium, a very intriguing special effect that was fitting for the performance. The music of the play, written by Oliver Coffman of the junior class, was perfect in setting the mood of the play. Earhart spent time fostering each part of the play equally, “I worked a lot with the witches in the show to develop their movement pieces.” 

Supervising one’s peers can be trying, but Earhart handled the task with minimal difficulty. The directors of the play had contrasting thought processes regarding which way the play should have been directed. Earhart believed this to be a positive aspect of her experience because she was able to learn how to compromise while directing. “This was an experience that I have learned so much from,” remarks Earhart, “It didn’t all go smoothly, but I think I can improve myself the next chance I get to direct.” 

In the future, Earhart hopes to become a performer, getting a degree that has an emphasis on directing. After a career involving acting and directing, Earhart wants to teach theater when she is “old and grey.” She believes that the school’s drama department has a lot to offer for students who have any interest in theater. As for the future plays at school, Earhart is excited to improve with the drama department as a team. “I think the hard work really paid off in the end,” states Earhart, “I think we will improve next year and the year after that, but the show turned out very well for everything we had to overcome.” 

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