PESHTIGO — Bridgerton, Twilight and Jimmy Buffet don’t usually share a playbill, but this weekend, they will.
Peshtigo High School students will perform “Inescapable Threads,” a vignette play exploring the comedy and tragedy of fate, as part of the drama club’s yearly performance.
The free show will take place Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the gym in the Peshtigo Elementary School, 341 N. Emery Ave.
“This year, we did not find a play; we actually wrote our own,” said Andrea Rosenow, director of the drama club and art teacher for grades 7th through 12th. “They had complete creative freedom to write whatever they wanted as long as it connected to our theme of fate.”
The stage will host numerous one-scene performances, which have been crafted and guided by Rosenow along the way.
“We are not only putting on a play but immersing ourselves in the process,” Rosenow said.
In September, the group started improv exercises and discussions on theater to prepare for the performances and get into character.
Some kids wrote alone, and some kids wrote in groups. Liah Furlong, a sophomore, had one stipulation.
“I said I would act if I played the character of Jimmy Buffet,” Furlong said. “She (Rosenow) was the one who embraced the Margaritaville aspect.”
She will perform alongside classmates in a short scene called “Murder at Margaritaville.”
The play has been different than previous years. This is the first time Rosenow has the kids writing their own plays.
“It started out different than it ended up being,” said Carlie Denowski, a sophomore who returned after last year.
She plays a vampire in a Twilight parody. After reading the lines out loud, she switched characters and even ditched her entire script.
“I erased it all and started it over,” Denowski said.
Complete control doesn’t just mean control of their scripts but also over the technical aspects.
“I wanted to give them complete ownership — and that means lights and sound,” Rosenow said.
Eva Andrews, a sophomore, said she kept a copy of the script backstage to write down lighting cues.
“I’ve learned to pay attention,” Andrews said.
While the students practiced on a Thursday night, the stage darkened as crew members switched scenes. The cast sat along the edge of the stage as their rehearsal ended.
“Good job at being in character, but don’t be afraid to ham it up,” Rosenow said as she gave direction.
Normally, they just pick a play online, but Rosenow said she got passionate about a make-it-yourself theme this year. The theater program has only been back for three years, which is how long she’s had her teaching degree.
She said she’s noticed that the play has brought out the students’ personalities.
“I think it’s already a success,” Rosenow said. “It’s ours, and that’s what matters.”
Furlong, the sophomore in the Margaritaville skit, had one last person to thank before the curtain came down on Thursday.
“Jimmy Buffet.”
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