With OAP season right around the corner, the theatre program is ready to transport audiences into the world of Cicada. The play follows the story of a mother, Lily, and her son, Ace, living in a house filled to the brim with ghosts of their past. Throughout the play, Ace is deeply intrigued with uncovering his family’s past and Lily is faced with the struggles of trying to let go of the generational trauma that plagues her family. 

     Senior Tristan Cole has been a part of the theatre program for all four years of high school and is ecstatic with the play that was selected.

     “I plan on working in the booth for Cicada,” Cole said. “I feel pretty excited, but I am also a bit sad that this is my last year. We’ve all really grown as a group and I’m ready to see how far we make it this year.”

     Theatre performance students have been reading and discussing the script since October; other students interested in auditioning joined them at an interest meeting last week. Students had themed snacks and read the play out loud. Seniors are excited because parts of the style of the play remind them of Balkan Women, which they performed as freshmen.

     “I’m really excited about the play choice for this year because it’s my senior year and this reminds me of the play we did my freshman year,” senior Ashtyn Barzda said. “It was really great and we went really far and I loved that play so much.”

     Sophomore Kaleb Barzda is excited about style choices for the play’s movement.

     “The thing I’m most excited about working on this play season is Frantic Assembly,” Barzda said. “I’ve heard other castmates speak so highly about it and I have yet to be a part of it, so I’m excited to work on that this year.”

     The tone of the play is different than the comedy the group performed in November, but the actors are ready for the change of pace. 

     “The thing I’m most excited for with our play is that it is so dark,” junior Brock Corbitt said. “I think that our best work is dark plays, because not only do we bring out the bad in everyone, we bring out the good.” 

     And that dark tone, along with themes of grief and loss, are things that have members of the company connecting with the script of Cicada on a personal level.

     “This play definitely hits me very hard, because I have lost somebody,” senior Julia Fravel said. “It makes me feel like I can finally let go of this feeling.” 

     The group will start memorizing lines and creating the set next week. Their first competition is at the end of March.