MILLSTONE – Students at the Millstone Township Middle School recently enjoyed the opportunity not only to be part of a show, but to run the show.
For their annual spring production, students in the middle school’s Drama Club worked as cast members and crew members for “The 10 Best/Worst Things About Middle School,” a short comedy by M.G. Davidson. The show was performed on May 9 at the Millstone Performing Arts Center, which is in the middle school.
Each year, the Drama Club’s spring production is entirely led by the students who perform, direct, create scenery, write a press release to promote the show and serve as stage managers.
The 2019 performance was directed by seventh-grader Francesca Scibilia, with eighth-grader Aidan McGovern as assistant director, eighth-grader Tyler Kushner as head stage manager, and seventh-grader Devyn Wilson and sixth-grader Richard Formica as assistant stage managers.
Sixth-grader Isabella Creighton was the prop crew leader and sixth-grader Hamilton Appel was the costume crew leader, with sixth grader Arya-Patel as costume assistant, and sixth-grader Madeline Marone in the props and costume crews.
“The 10 Best/Worst Things About Middle School” was intended for the cast and crew’s fellow students and was about middle school students like them. According to the members of the Drama Club, the play was about the lives of average middle school students and their favorite and least favorite parts about this stage of life.
“The script is a fun, lighthearted look at how middle schoolers view their middle school world,” said Lisamarie Cappuzzo, adviser to the Drama Club, and Karen Shaffer, assistant adviser. “The cast and production staff worked hard to specifically reference their experiences at Millstone Township Middle School and to create humorous moments on stage that were recognizable and relatable to their peers.
“It has been a thrill to empower these middle school students with full creative responsibility over their production and to gently guide them in their leadership roles,” Cappuzzo and Shaffer said.
“The students have been involved in every single aspect of the production, from directing to publicity, from designing to planning a cast party. The student production staff and cast have shown such initiative and enthusiasm throughout the collaboration process. We were so excited to see their vision become a reality on stage,” the advisers said.
