‘Out of Order’

MT. PLEASANT - Masking up, holding rehearsals with quarantined actors on computer screens, not actually knowing what a person's face looks like during a scene - putting together a theater production in the midst of a pandemic is no small feat, but the drama department at Mt. Pleasant Community High School was up to the challenge.

The school's annual fall play will have a three-day run this weekend. This year, the group of thespians will deliver a comedy by Ray Cooney, 'Out of Order,” to local audiences at the Heatilator Performing Arts Center.

High school music teacher and play director Marlene DePriest described the show as 'one wild circus that continues on.”

DePriest said she purposefully chose a comedy to bring some lightness and joy to the community in this tough time.

'Everybody needs that laughter right now,” she said.

The cast of 10 high school students will transport audiences to a hotel suite in London where a parliament member is attempting to hide both an affair and a dead body.

'It's just a lot of fun. There are a few surprises in there that people hopefully won't be expecting,” she added.

Throughout rehearsals, DePriest and her cast have worn masks and worked around not being able to see each other's facial expressions.

'There have been times, I'll talk to them later and say ‘I need to make sure you're giving this vibe, and you might be, but I can't see it because your mask is hiding the majority of your face,'” DePreist said.

The cast members will be taking their masks off for the first time at their Parent Night performance on Thursday evening. Other than when on stage, all students will remain in masks during performances.

'I'm anxious to what that will look like because we have not seen any of it,” she said.

In addition to keeping students safe, DePriest said all tickets for the show will be sold ahead of time so she can socially distance audience members in the auditorium.

Despite the challenges, DePriest said she is excited for the community to enjoy the show and credits the hard work of students for how smoothly the production has come together.

'These kids have worked super hard, coming in doing whatever's needed, whenever it's needed, so that makes it easy,” she said.

Logan Lee, a senior who had been quarantined during a part of rehearsals, said his experience in the fall play has been like none other.

'At one point I was quarantined, so I had to do it on Zoom. It was kind of hard to block things and get into character,” he said.

'Once I was able to come in, it was a lot easier. Not seeing facial expressions is kind of hard, too, but helps us focus on our tone of voice,” the senior added.

Lee, who plays George Pigden, a parliamentary member's secretary, is a veteran of the stage in Mt. Pleasant having participated in all of the school's productions since his freshman year.

'I love to act and get on stage,” he said.

Even though his last fall play is nothing like he would have imagined, Lee said he's still enjoying the experience.

'We're just glad to be putting it on,” he said.

Senior Luke Ryon, who plays the Richard Willey, the parliament member whose romantic afternoon rendezvous has gone awry, said being part of his final fall play has been incredibly enjoyable, even under the strange circumstances.

'The interaction with the cast is really fun. We all just really have a fun atmosphere here,” Ryon said.

Ryon, who has been in seven school productions before 'Out of Order,” said acting with masks has tested the abilities of all the students.

'There's so much you communicate with your face … It will be interesting opening night to see how we do everything the first time without masks,” he said.

Fellow senior Erin Andreasen, who plays Jane Worthington, said it's particularly fun acting out things she 'would never do,” as her character partakes in an affair.

'It's fun getting to do that onstage,” she said.

Andreasen, a first-time actor in the school play, added being part of the school production has been a wonderful experience.

'Everyone's great … I've made friendships working with everyone here every single day that I will always keep,” she added.

Performances of 'Out of Order” will be at the Heatilator Performing Arts Center Nov. 13 and Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Brown's Shoe Fit in Mt. Pleasant.