Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, the Patriot Players had a successful run of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV”, their second annual Shakespeare production. This show was different from any other because it was done completely in the new production theatre class.
New director, Cathryn Rinaldi, has made a significant change to how the Patriot Players function, creating a new production class as the most advanced acting class. Replacing what was previously known as the “troupe” class, this new course gives top students the opportunity to put on shows from a class period instead of strictly after school, adding two new shows to their season each year, the first of which was “Henry IV”.
“Henry IV took a lot of hard work due to the different language compared to modern day. However, the class made it look easy to pick up,” junior Jules Suarez said. “Doing it in class definitely helped schedule-wise and doing the show with friends made it so much more fun.”
Another feature of the show which made it incredibly difficult was the quick turn around for the students. A month before the show students put on “Silent Sky,” a straight play with a small cast. Two weeks after that the group put on “Narrator Nonsense” for their district festival one act, leaving just two weeks to finalize changes for an already difficult show.
“The process of Henry IV was interesting considering we only did rehearsals in the class period until tech week,” junior Amee Rodriguez-Ortega said. “It was fun to get this experience because Shakespeare is fundamental to theatre.”
Although multiple factors made the show more difficult, the audience was none the wiser, being dazzled by the amazing performance.
“The show was pretty cool,” junior Elias Hill said. “I didn’t even play Clash of Clans for most of it. It takes a lot for me to not play Clash of Clans during something, especially when it’s not something I care about, like Shakespeare.”
