The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago

The Forum

The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago

The Forum

The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago

The Forum

Behind the Scenes of 'The Birds'

This year, the theater is undergoing many changes; amongst them, the five student run productions that will be going up before the year is out. One of the most surprising changes was not auditioning for the fall play, Aristophanes’ The Birds, until the weekend before school started. For the past few school years, auditions have been at the end of the previous school year, and we’d come in on day one with some idea of who we were in the cast. When asked about the change, Mr. Baer said that it would allow more chances for new students to audition. “It’s been a long standing debate about which is better, and since we haven’t really used preseason in the past few years, this offers more opportunity for the freshman [to audition],” he said. The Birds, first performed in 414 BC, offers the audience a humorous outlook on the human experience. Many cast members, and even those not involved in the theatre believe that the school needs a good laugh. The show, which opened on Wednesday night, is particularly small, having a cast of only 22. This unusually small cast can be attributed to the loss of a lot of graduates involved in theater, and the addition of only two freshmen, John Phillips and Mary Ellen Mack. Even though they are small in number, John and Mary both agree that being the only freshmen means that they develop stronger relationships with the upperclassmen. “Our relationships with upperclassmen are more solid than they would have been otherwise,” they said. And this is the goal: to create a feeling of ensemble in order to produce a show with a true Greek chorus. While this show has been amazing to work on, and has its moments of pure comedic genius, it would not have been possible without hard work. For a fall play, this show had a few particularly scattered rehearsals. From the familiar routine of acting and shop calls to the strange new mask making workshops, this production has been a chance for all of us to use our artistic abilities both on and off of the stage. As a cast, we hope that those who came to see our show enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed performing for them.  ]]>

View Comments (3)
More to Discover

Forum Awards Are Back!

Submit by May 1st

Comments (3)

All The Forum Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • M

    mmackNov 3, 2015 at 9:22 am

    Amazing article! And hey I made it!

    Reply
  • M

    mmackNov 3, 2015 at 9:22 am

    Great article! And hey I made it!

    Reply
  • C

    criersonOct 19, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    Great article, Deon! All the love

    Reply
Activate Search
The Student News Site of the Latin School of Chicago
Behind the Scenes of 'The Birds'