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By Claire Reinthaler

For the Clemmons Courier

The curtain is up, and the drama department is springing into action. This past week has been chock-full of late-night rehearsals in the Anderson Performing Arts Center as the cast and crew of this year’s fall one acts prepare to kick off the 2023-24 season — Shakespeare style.

“We’ve figured out a way to make Shakespeare actually entertaining,” junior actor Matthew Amade said. “We’ve put so much work into these (plays).”

That was the first thing every drama student was most proud of when asked about this year’s one-act (plays): the hard work along the way and the amazing shows that were built in the process.

“We spent quite a lot of time blocking the scenes and going through everything,” freshman actress Sarah Martin said. “Just making sure it’s as good as it can be.”

Every drama season has a motto, and this year’s motto is “To Thine Own Self Be True,” a reference to Shakespeare’s ever-popular tragedy, “Hamlet.” Starting the season are the one-acts: “Desdemona In The Afterlife,” a play about Shakespeare’s scorned female characters, and a shortened version of “The Taming Of The Shrew,” set in the Wild West. While the two productions have wildly different moods, both embody this popular saying, and the casts think that both are well worth coming to see.

“‘Taming Of The Shrew’ is really funny,” sophomore actress Millie Caldwell said. “‘Desdemona’ is more of a representation of women… It shows a lot about this drama department as a whole, both the funny and dramatic sides of it. We’re honestly just so excited for people to come see (the one acts).”

With Student Rush Night, free for drama students and families, just a few hours away, the cast is urging people to come out and see the plays that they’re so proud of.

“You should totally come see the shows because we’ve been working so hard on them, and they’re super good,” junior actress Lavender Rogers said.

Senior actress Destiny Morrow added, “The one-acts are really going to show you a different interpretation of Shakespeare’s plays.”

Hopefully, the hard work is paying off.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into them, and I believe that these are some of the most interesting plays we’ve done in recent years,” junior actor Riley McCallister said.

The one-acts debut at Student Rush Night tonight, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m., and run for general $5 admission tomorrow and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14, at the same times. Everyone, even people outside of West Forsyth, is encouraged to attend.

“Just come support your classmates or people in your community,” senior actress Amber Summers said. “West Forsyth is a big part of Clemmons, and it’s just important to come support us kids who want to go into the arts and express creativity in our own way.”