The lights dimmed as the Ground Zero audience fell silent. With their final practice behind them, the drama class rushed in the dark to find their final spots and performed for a chapel audience on Oct. 16.

This year’s drama class has many new faces, many whose talent offer a new element to performances and demonstrate pride in drama.

“This year is exciting for the drama class because we have a lot of new actors and actresses,” Tom McEntee campus drama teacher, said. “It is like starting fresh and being able to mold a whole new class.”

The campus drama class performed two new skits during chapel. One of the dramas was about the book of the Bible, Phillipians. They performed a dramatic and in depth reading of the book.

“”The Phillipians skit was hard because it wasn’t a modern storyline,”” Jaclyn Blackwell, ’07, first-year drama student, said. “”Since it was written in biblical language, it was more difficult to memorize.””

While Blackwell and other freshmen were selected to act out the skit, they ultimately decided that memorizing was easier when actions were added to the script.

“”While the language was difficult, I found it was easier to memorize Bible verses in skit form,”” Blackwell continued, “”because Mr. McEntee gave us actions to fit the words. I’ll use this skill in some of my other classes.””

First-year drama students also acted out the skit “Salt of the Streets.” The main characters were Chris White, ’05, who portrayed a Christian who met a street boy played by Brennan Gust, ’05. He tried to witness to Gust assuming that, since he lived on the streets, could not be a Christian.

Yet, as he dug deeper into Gust’s life, he realized that Gust was a believer. And, as irony has it, Gust ended up teaching White a lesson in faith.

Returning actor, Paul Kinnear, ’06, said he enjoys the stage and has been in drama for two years. He also performed on Oct. 16, reciting part of the book Phillipians.

“I enjoy drama because I get to express myself in a way I enjoy,” Kinnear said. “Being in drama is a lot of fun. This year, with all of the new people, it gives the class a whole new element.”

Drama will next perform The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. The play is closely based on the short story of the same name on Dec. 11 in chapel.

For more information on the drama class contact McEntee at [email protected].