Call for ‘The Kids of Bethel’ improv auditions, Oct. 13, Room 603

Kyle Dodson has four years of drama teaching experience but also enjoys being in productions himself. His passion for drama and acting has led him to perform in several plays.

Dodson began performing at a young age. His father directed children’s musicals for their church, and Dodson began to perform in them. This experience sparked a passion inside of him that led him to join drama in high school.

In high school, Dodson began to take drama class more seriously. He invested more and more time in drama until eventually, it became his main activity outside of academics.

“It was around junior-high that I decided to pursue and continue drama,” Dodson said. “I joined drama in high school with the intention that this was sort of what I wanted to do as my main extracurricular activity. Unfortunately, I then had to cut away sports.”

After Dodson completed his schooling, he continued to perform in plays. Several years ago he performed Forever Plaid, the prequel to the play he will be performing this November at the Clovis Veterans Memorial auditorium, Plaid Tidings. The play will be performing on the last weekend of November.

Dodson is enthusiastic about his drama program and believes students will learn valuable life skills if they join his program. 

“Drama is my passion,” Dodson said. “As much as I love teaching English, drama is the reason that gets me up in the morning. The lessons and abilities that you learn in drama class can really be beneficial for all other academic courses that you may come across.”

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The drama class, with the help of Dodson, puts on two school plays each year. School-wide auditions will be open soon for the first play the date is still to be announced. Dodson encourages students to join to learn new skills and abilities.

First-year drama student Jordan Mazzella, ‘20, hopes to learn how to express herself through the class. Mazzella appreciates Dodson’s commitment to the class and his dedication to acting.

“This year I chose to take drama because I didn’t take it last year and it is a class where I really enjoy being able to express myself,” Mazzella said. “The things I like about drama are that Mr. Dodson gives us challenges that are fun to figure out and experiment with.”

I find Mr. Dodson valuable as our teacher because he is very passionate about drama and he has a different viewpoint on drama than most other schools. I also think that because he has a passion for drama he puts his heart into teaching us. He would like to share his passion with us and involve us in his passion. — Jordan Mazzella

Sophomore Colten Allen started taking drama in seventh grade and had a great experience. Allen has always managed to find a way to fit drama into his class schedule.

“There’s something about the community of drama that I like because it’s not a group of people you would normally hang out with, and because it is all grades seventh through twelve,” Allen said. “You get to know seniors and some junior highers. It’s not just like you’re stuck in your class, you get this new variety, this new community that you learn to love.”

Senior Natalya Hill, who has been in drama for five years, feels that having a teacher like Dodson is very important to the program.

“Mr. Dodson is one of the younger teachers on campus, and I think the fact that he’s more relatable and in the loop with students is important for a drama instructor,” Hill said. “In junior high and high school drama, learning by lectures is rather unheard of.

“He does a terrific job of balancing instruction and allowing students to learn by experience or trial-and-error,” Hill continued. “His presence is reassuring and his specific teaching style meshes very well with the drama experience. He does a great job of interacting with and promoting every student’s thoughts and actions.”

Dodson hopes the students who join his class will learn to know themselves more completely.

“I know this sounds cliché and silly but I hope they understand themselves better,” Dodson said. “So much of high school is just trying to figure out your our own identity and what we think of ourselves. Also, we want to learn to make progress as a group.”

Dodson encourages students to join his class. School-wide sign-ups will begin soon for the first performance. Additionally, he is forming an improv group called ‘The Kids of Bethel.’ Auditions will be held in room 603, Oct. 13. 

Those interested in taking in the play, Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings, with Dotson can purchase tickets at CenterStageClovis.com. In a description from the website, “the legendary Plaids come back to Earth to spread yuletide joy with the greatest holiday hits of the ages. Filled with Christmas standards that have all been “Plaid-erized,” our boys are back to do their Christmas Special.” Performances will be at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District, Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2. 

For more drama articles, read Drama performance of ‘Hello Dolly’ stirs up excitement, energy. For more articles, read BREAKING: Sophomores win overall homecoming title.

This author can be reached via twitter @OwenMonke and via email: Owen Monke.