Arcadia High School’s (AHS) Beginning Theatre classes proudly presented their Winterfest production after a semester of hard work. On Dec. 14, the theatre students in both period 2 and 6 performed two one-act plays, The Unbreakable Timmy Cratchiot, directed by Mr. Steven Volpe, and Elves and the Shoemakers Save Snowfall Peak Town, directed by Mr. Evan Tamayo, in the Blackbox Theater.
The Unbreakable Timmy Cratchit, performed by Beginning Theatre period 2, was a twist on A Christmas Carol, showing the perspectives of the Cratchit family instead of the usual story of Ebenezer Scrooge. Freshman Joaquin Figueroa shared his experience during his first year in Arcadia Stage.
“I felt a little nervous at the beginning, but definitely a lot more excited to go and perform,” said Figueroa. He also expressed that his character, Tiny Tim, who struggled to find Christmas presents for his poor family, was “definitely a unique and fun character to play.”
As Elf 1, an enthusiastic salesperson in The Unbreakable Timmy Cratchit, freshman Madeline Wong enjoyed her class’s performance.
She said, “I feel really proud [to be a part of Arcadia Stage]. There’s a lot of cool people here, and they’re really talented … At first, I only interacted with the people that were in theatre [in middle and elementary school] with me, but now we’re all interacting backstage and it’s really exciting.”
“Being in a performance with my [classmates] strengthened our relationships, otherwise we wouldn’t be as close,” Figueroa also expressed.
The following performance, Elves and the Shoemakers Save Snowfall Peak Town, had a cast consisting of Beginning Theatre period 6. This play followed the story of a group of elves trapped and secretly forced to make clothes. The shoemaker couple of the village teamed up with these elves to free them from their kidnappers.
“The night before the play, I was so out of my mind. I was nervous,” said junior Cassieopeia Rivera on her character, Upscale Woman 2. “Throughout each rehearsal, I’ve had more of an opportunity to hang around the cast and talk to people I’ve never really approached since the beginning of the semester.”
On the whole, Winterfest had spread the holiday spirit to its audience while also bringing the cast and crew closer together.
Rivera added that, “Both in and out of character, I believe everyone had so much fun being on-stage, even if they were nervous or anxious.”
“We only had one dress rehearsal, so there were a couple of mistakes, but every actor played them off incredibly well, and the show continued flowing smoothly,” said Wong.
Congrats, Beginning Theatre, on your first performance of the year!
Photo courtesy of ARCADIASTAGE
