The theater department at Cape Elizabeth High School is set to premiere its fall show, “Improv-n-Shorts,” featuring the school’s Improv Troupe, along with short scripted pieces.
The show opens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19. General admission tickets are $5 and the show will also run at 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23 and 24.
Theater director Richard Mullen said the show includes about 50 students, including performers, designers and technicians. In addition, the show will also highlight the short film, “Ollie,” by Cape alumnae Thomas and Peter Campbell.
“Ollie” took third place at this past summer’s 48 Hour Film Project, held in Portland, as well as honors for best actor and best director.
Mullen said the students involved in the show have spent the past nine weeks working on improv prompts and rehearsing the scripted pieces that will be intertwined.
What he likes most about this fall production is that it’s student-centered with “time for the kids to have their say and be front and center.”
Cole Amorello is the student director, who chose the scripted pieces by playwrights Terry Bisson, Becky Mode and Chris Durang.
He chose specific scenes for their “humor and authentic dialogue,” but also wanted to give his actors material they could “play with.”
Amorello hopes the audience “can relax, share laughs and enjoy the rare and magical experience of (live) theater,” which, he said, is “immediate and engages an audience like no other” medium.
In terms of his directorial debut, Amorello said, “I’m learning a lot and enjoying it a great deal.”
In March, Cape Elizabeth High will compete in the annual Maine Drama Festival, which showcases one-act plays. Then in May the school will put on the musical, “The Little Mermaid.”
The Improv Troupe at Cape Elizabeth High School will be featured in the show, “Improv-n-Shorts,” which opens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19.Send questions/comments to the editors.
