Each academic year, Washington High School puts on three different shows. At the beginning of the first semester they put on a fall play, in November a fall musical, and the company concludes with Playtime Poppy (children’s theater) in the spring. If you’re reading this, I regret to inform you that this year’s play Puffs opened on September 1st and closed on the 3rd, so you’ve missed out. But don’t you worry! I’m here to give you the inside scoop on the 2022-2023 kick off show, and all Wash Drama and their backstage crew has to offer. 

To catch you up, our talented thespians staged a rendition of the play Puffs, a Harry Potter comedy-parody, that cast members Isla Hamilton ‘25 and Moritz Afridi ‘23 would describe as “fun” and “funky.” Though the roughly two hour show was geared towards those who could catch a reference from the series even through the slightest implication, even those unfamiliar with the series contributed to the laughter and gasps that flowed throughout the theater nearly every line delivered. What a great performance to commence the theater season!

Now, if you’ve never been in a show, you may be wondering: what roles do people have in a production? Well, you obviously have the actors and actresses, but there are also stars hidden outside of the spotlight–the crew. Noel Steffen ‘23, props designer, explains their favorite part of what they do backstage. “… this is gonna sound really cheesy–but it’s like the, seeing the progression of the show… …it’s called crew view, um, where you just like sit in the seats and watch the show run through like with blocking but no–no props, no scene movements, or anything like that, no costumes. And then you sit and you watch, like the actual show, once everyone has like their costumes and props and the scene is changing, it’s so cool. Just like everything comes together, everything makes so much sense now.” A few duties that crew members have is to help build the set, work lighting, play the soundtracks for a show, work microphones, make props, and switch scenes on stage. Steffen encourages others to join, saying “…it’s a lot of fun,” and mentions that with musicals especially, crew has a full plate and would appreciate more helping hands.