In the News: NHS actors will compete against each other

Newberg High School’s spring theater show is different from its other productions throughout the year. For one thing, Tournament of Plays, which runs this weekend, is a series of one-act pieces. For another, it’s a student-run effort that pits each class against the others.

The pieces are all directed by juniors and seniors — NHS theater teacher Drea Ferguson gives her students their space for this show — and feature a different grade for each. The freshmen will put on “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet,” the sophomores “Rapunzel Uncut,” the juniors “Bad Auditions for Bad Actors,” about actors auditioning for Romeo and Juliet, and the seniors “15 Reasons to Not be in a Play.”

“It’s pretty funny,” said senior coordinator Sara Creighton. “All four of them are comedies.”

The show will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The audience will be asked to vote for the best piece, while a panel of judges will assign prizes for best actors, best costumes and the like.

“The tournament isn’t as serious as all the other plays, so we get to goof around and have fun with it,” said Carmel Swanson, who plays the witch in the sophomore production.

“You get to make it your own and we all just have fun with it. ... There’s just more of kind of craziness to it,” added junior Ryan King, whose character, Roger, is always on the phone.

Being able to create their characters is an aspect of the show that appealed to several of the actors, perhaps second only to the ability to work with their closest friends.

Kaytlin Ebora, a senior, said that, because the shows are grade-specific, the actors are generally close to the people with whom they will share the stage. “With the seniors, it’s a fun last hurrah for us,” she commented.

So which class is favored to win going into the competition? The consensus seems to be that the seniors “pretty much always have it,” but other classes thought they might have a chance, what with the seniors having to overcome the loss of three actors who dropped out midway through the process. All they can do is guess, however, as the classes haven’t seen the other plays they’re going up against.

“I’m assuming all the plays are going to be fantastic,” said senior Ryan Sherrard.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students. Call 503-554-5305 for reservations.

Amanda Newman, Newberg Graphic