The public will have the chance to support the One Act Play and Dublin Theatre Department at a set of public performances Saturday, April 19.
‘Rue’ will be performed at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Old Auditorium on Camden Street.
Entry fee is $5 with a donation bake sale to aid the theatre department.
One Act Play’s season came to an end April 1 as they did not advance out of Bi-District.
However, several awards were received including Best Crew Member Travis Spharler, Honorable Mention Ryan DiCiccio and Karen Ortiz got All Star Cast for her performance as Willa.
To prepare for district, which was held Monday, March 24 in Brownwood, students were able to have a clinic with Lou Lindsey. At district, not only did Dublin OAP advance, they received several awards including All-Star Tech Crew (Travis Spharler, Morgan Keith, Eugene Hutchison, Jayden Griffin and Devin Heath) for the first time ever. Travis also received Outstanding Crew Member, Ryan received Honorable Mention All-Star Cast and Makayla received All Star Cast.
“This year’s ‘Rue’ cast has out done themselves. They advanced on their own choreography, casting and blocking. They are an inspiring group of students who stepped up to the plate and made their goals happen. I am honored to be a part of this inspiring group of students,” said new DHS Theatre director Aimee Spharler.
With many changes within the theatre program at Dublin High School, students had only a brief amount of time to choose a play and landed on “Rue.” Aimee Spharler said the play, which deals with serious issues such as anxiety, bullying and familial love, allowed the students to grow and take ownership of the performances.
The play takes place deep in a Louisiana swamp where 16-year-old Josephine (played by Makayla Facio) struggles with intense anxiety following the mysterious disappearance of her parents. Though the swamp becomes increasingly unsafe, she refuses to leave the safety of her home to face the outside world. Even though her brother Don (played by Ryan DiCiccio) and her best friend Kassie (played by Hailie Whitworth) warn against it, Josephine turns to the dark inhabitants of the swamp for answers only to have to face the truth about her family and herself.
Both Spharler and Mary Ann Landreth helped the students, however, much of the performances, costumes, set design and lighting was developed by the students involved.
Aimee said the play also helped the juniors step up on stage and prepare for the graduation of well-liked actor Ryan DiCiccio.
“It has been hard for them to think of a world without Ryan performing with them,” she said. “This play also allows them to deal with the anxiety of college, dual credit courses and more in a real way.”
The cast includes Makayla Facio as Josephine, Ryan Di-Ciccio as Don, Addison Ivie as Mother/Miss Vickie/Mrs. Justice/Ensemble, Victor Ruiz as Father/Loup-Garou/ Ensemble, Alex Ponce de Leon as Battry/Ensemble, Karen Ortiz as Willa/Flora/ Ensemble, Hailie Whitworth as Kassie/Ensemble, Malakai Thompson as Lyle/Ensemble, Brookyn Ercanbrack as Miz Creesha/Ensemble, Issac Puerta as Man/Ensemble, Devin Heath as an ensemble member and Jayden Griffi n as an ensemble member. Crew includes Stage Manager Morgan Keith, Lighting by Travis Spharler and Adrian Fowler and Sound by Eugene Hutchinson.