The Watertown High School drama program is putting on \”Our Town\” for the fall play.
Beth Peters has directed the fall play at Watertown High School for 10 years, and the school had not done the classic American play “Our Town.” This is the year!
The Thornton Wilder play is both a simple production, but one where the student actors must dig deep emotionally, said Peters, who also teaches drama at an elementary school in East Boston.
WHS junior Zoe Grodsky, who plays Emily Webb, said there are some very sad scenes in the play.
“It’s a tough show. It is very real,” Grodsky said. “Sometimes we had to portraying something so emotional.”
Asher Harris Oatmeal, who is the stage manager in the play and also narrator, said the emotions came flowing out in some scenes.
“There were times when we were saying lines that we both began to cry because it was so sad,” said Harris Oatmeal, a sophomore from Watertown who attends New England Academy in Beverly.
A scene from the WHS production of \”Our Town,\” going on stage on Oct. 24 and 25.
Peters said she was confident that the students could handle and portray the complex emotions of “Our Town.”
“A lot has happened in our school and our community,” Peters said. “Students experienced those thing.”
She liked the play because it focused on the drama and acting.
“I think it helps develop students’ acting skills,” Peters said. “It is not focused on dancing or building elaborate sets. It is about storytelling and sharing character’s lines.”
The play has a cast and crew of 25, which is large for Watertown High, Peters said.
“There is something about the Watertown Drama program,” Peters said. “It is always struggling, but the kids who come out are so dedicated and work hard on it.”
Our Town will be on the Shaw Auditorium Stage on Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8. Watertown High School is located at 50 Columbia St. off of Common Street.
The cast of WHS\’s \”Our Town\” takes a curtain call.