On September 22 and 23, Arlington High School’s drama department presented their first show of the 2017-2018 year with their self written and directed show, Steven. The stage is set and takes place in a drama class taught by Mr. Johnson who is played by Jared Brown (‘18). Mr. Johnson assigns the class their first assignment to take four shows and combine them into one musical. The students are split into four groups with a director for each, but one director Steven, never shows up to the class. Three weeks later, the groups present their plays in front of the teacher and to their surprise, Steven finally shows up after a long vacation in Hawaii. In frustration, the students chase after Steven and the curtain falls.

Aside from the main plot of the show, what many students and attendees are not aware of is that Steven originated from an inside joke that was formed by one of the directors, Adam Wirth (‘18).

Grace Moberly (‘19) said, “Adam always makes jokes regarding an imaginary guy named Steven and everyone plays along with it. It was Adam’s job to write the script so he incorporated the joke into the show. Originally, the other three directors were running against Adam to direct the production of “Medley” but they came to an agreement to combine the two and create Steven.”

Every year AHS presents a Medley production consisting of four different shows that are combined but this year they put a spin on it. The challenges that came along with writing and directing their own show this year were more complicated to overcome than their previous shows.

“I wrote all of Steven disregarding the lines within the musicals. One thing I struggled with while writing Steven was arranging the lines to make them flow. It was complicated directing because I also starred as a lead role so I couldn’t critique the show. Luckily, the other three directors took initiative and were able to help during the rehearsals,” said Wirth.

Two directors of the show Devin Kennedy (‘18) and Hannah Glunt (‘18)  said, “it was our first time directing a show and it was particularly complicated because it was being produced over summer so it was hard to keep people motivated and attending rehearsals.”

Kennedy admitted that “Both acting and directing the same show was no easy task because you have to focus on making sure everyone else has a featured role as well as placing yourself in one.”

Glunt exclaimed “We are so proud of the turnout of attendees for this show. Advertising around the school and on social media has benefited this program so much. We are so grateful for the amount of people who show an interest in our drama program.”

Along with the directors being proud of the show, the attendees were enthused and shocked to find out who Steven really was. To their surprise, Landon Beale (‘18) who hadn’t shown his face the entire show, presented himself as Steven in the very last scene of the play.

“This show was very well put together. I will be recommending others to come to the next show because the musicals are always so beautifully done,” said Megan Jaromin (‘18).

AHS drama teacher Mr. Moberly admitted that he gave the directors a substantial amount of freedom while putting this show together.

“I met with the students four times over the summer while Steven was being produced to advise their ideas and provide feedback but other than that, it was a complete student driven show.” said Moberly.

Although AHS drama faced many challenges constructing their latest show from the ground up, they managed to produce an entire musical based off of one inside joke that ended in a huge hit!

On a side note, for any student interested in joining the drama department, Moberly informed that, “we are an inclusive program, meaning any student who possesses an interest in drama will undoubtedly have a place in the organization.”