The East High drama department put on its fall show ‘Elephant’s Graveyard’ on October 12th and 13th. The show, directed by Ms. Christina Zarr of the EHS drama department, revolves around the small town of Erwin, Tennessee, and the day that Spark’s World Famous Circus is set to perform there, along with their famous elephant Mary. The play is based on the true and tragic events that unfolded on the fateful day that the circus came to town. The cast of the show had to put special care into their performances in order to convey to the audience the real and raw emotion involved with such a tragic event.

“The whole point of acting is that you have to relive the story every day,” explained senior cast member James Brown. “Even though I know what’s going to happen, my character doesn’t, so I have to act as if this is my first time seeing it every time (we perform).”

One of the most unique elements of this production is the use of an arena stage. An arena stage means that the audience sits on stage with the cast on all four sides of the playing space. The theatre crew set up risers in a square shape on all four sides of their stage. In the center of the risers they marked out the playing space, or the space in which the show would be performed. On the side closest to the regular audience seating area, the band shell was set up to give the arena an even more enclosed and personal feel. Walking onto the stage was meant to give the impression of walking into a circus tent as audiences got to sit under the warm wash of the lights and up close and personal with the set.

The East High drama students worked very hard on ‘Elephant’s Graveyard’ and are planning to perform it again at the Wyoming State Drama Competition this December.

The students are also taking a second show to state this year, directed by Mr. Jeff Miller of the EHS theatre department, in the Group Performance Art (GPA) category.

GPA shows are, in a sense, public service announcements that are performed on stage that center around a social issue. For GPA performances, the cast must act physically as props, scenery, and sound effects, as such elements are not allowed in the show itself. East High is unique in their GPA performances in that the show’s student cast members write the script themselves.

“When you’re acting from a script the character is already made out for you,” said senior cast member Hannah Clark. “When we’re writing it, we can do all these cool things with it. Because we’re students, so we have the creativity to add all these awesome elements.”

With last year’s state championship already under their belts, the EHS drama students are ready to shoot for another win at this year’s state drama competition.

Be sure to support your fellow T-Birds this theatre season!