No Signs of Intelligent Life: Behind the Scenes
Angel Cullen
Have you ever wanted to perform on Broadway and perform in front of thousands of people? Drama Club isn’t exactly Broadway, but it is a step closer. For me, Drama Club has been a creative outlet and helped me make more friends. No Signs of Intelligent Life was our spring play this year.
Recently, Drama Club has had a decrease in actors and actresses. There is so much more to Drama Club than just acting. For an entire show to come together, it requires a makeup crew, lighting and sound crew, and of course, the actors. However, many of the actors had to fill in some of these roles and take multiple parts to put together a show.
As for my personal experience, I usually go to practice two to three nights per week, but this is only about a month and a half before each show. Two weeks before opening night is when the rush happens. I attended roughly four to five practices each week during this time. The pre-show is where most of the magic happens. Some of the actors make sure that all of their props are in place while others put stage makeup on each other and themselves. You can hear people out in the hallway practicing their lines and calming their nerves. As showtime approaches, actors rush to their places to go onstage when they are supposed to. During the show, all the actors backstage have to be absolutely silent because the sound carries all over the auditorium. Scene changes are short, so there is little to no room for error. Messing up your lines a little bit is surprisingly not the biggest problem onstage. If someone completely forgets their lines, another actor covers for them by skipping to their line. If the actor is alone on stage, they typically skip to the next line that they can remember. The audience almost never notices if someone messes up.
Before I was in Drama Club, I was quiet and didn’t want to be in front of people. Now I can speak more clearly and boldly. Drama Club is a fun and engaging way to express your creative side.