While Halloween may be just around the corner, the students in the production of “Ah, Wilderness!” are busy spending long nights rehearsing lines and running scenes. Unlike the musicals big cast, the play only consisted of eighteen members. The play is set on July 4th, 1906, and is meant to reflect on the idea of “real America.”

To find out more about how the actors pulled the show off, I spoke to freshman Katherine Sweich, who played Mildred Miller, about the gruesome practices. “The practices were almost nightly from right after school to almost 11 pm. Even once I got home I stayed up reciting my lines.” Katherine was also one of the only freshman to receive a lead, which she expressed to me made her anxious but more determined to do the best she could.

“It’s a lot of memorizing, but in the end I find it fun and enjoy getting a chance to be around people who enjoy doing this,” Sweich says. The play requires actors to leave their reality of being a highschool student, and portray their characters.

Kiera James, 12, who portrayed Essie Miller, tells me that “You can’t be yourself when you are playing your role, otherwise you feel awkward and uncomfortable. For example, I kiss the character Nat Miller (played by Christian Jones,12) , and it’s honestly quite awkward to do that infront of a lot of people. I avoid it by pretending I am really the character in that world.”

This tactic seems to work, as upon viewing the play opening night it was hard to pinpoint character to being an actual student I see in the halls. It’s obvious they put hard work into their roles, down to Katherine getting to the performance three hours early just to curl her hair, to the smiles on their faces during their final bows.

The play will be presented from October 25th-28th, and tickets can be purchased at the ticket window or on EventBrite.