Wiscasset Middle High School Drama cordially invites parents, students, friends and family to this fall’s productions. Drama Instructor and Director Jean Phillips decided that two shorter productions would be more in keeping with the separation of seventh and eighth graders from the high schoolers, With that in mind the first performance – “The Actor Games” by Wade Bradford – will be performed by a mostly younger cast and has a general audience theme. The second play, a one-act version of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” has a more adult tone and is performed as a staged reading by mostly juniors and seniors.

“The Actor Games” is a parody on Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” except that in this dystopian world the candidates from the districts compete to be the best actor. In this play, “everyone is dying . . . for attention. Society’s obsession with all things drama has become so distracting, the Capitol has outlawed all auditions and has divided the population into 10 districts. During the annual Actor Games, the tributes compete to become a star. The losers must suffer the fate the Fallback Wheel. This year, Meryl (played by eighth grader Margo Fairfield) hopes to become the first ever winner from The Land of Bad Acting. Unfortunately, the odds are never in her favor. Competing against Meryl are Greek Drama (played by seventh grader Brady Nichols); Shakespearean Drama (senior Sarah Foley); Commedia Dell’Arte (sophomore Megan Syrjala); Melodrama (eighth grader Molly Syrjala); Silent Film (junior Megan DeLong); Musical Theatre (sophomore Olivia Peaslee); Avant Garde (sophomore Maize Hagerman); Hollywood (junior Caleb Cabriele); and Method Acting (junior Matt Chapman). Rounding out the cast is sophomore Kaydin Nichols as the Mother; 8th Grader William Clauson as Meryl’s younger brother; and freshman Savannah Roberts as the Host.

Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” involves two sisters Katharine (Kaydin Nichols) - the shrew - and her younger, sweeter sister Bianca (Maize Hagerman). Many men would like to marry Bianca, but Baptista (freshman Josh Dualan) will not allow them to marry her until Katharine is married. Enter Petruchio (Caleb Gabriele), the only man foolish enough to marry Katharine. This staged reading is directed by senior Leah Potter with sophomore Dustin Manson (Lucentio) Megan DeLong (Tailor) and eighth grader Molly Syrjala (Grumio) as support cast member.

The performances are Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. Admission for WMHS students with ID is $1, for all other students and those without ID it will be $2. Admission for adults is $5. There will be a 15-minute intermission between shows with a bake sale to benefit the drama program. Please come out and support the hard work of these talented actors.