Senior Kaylyn Ledvina explains her involvement in the most recent school play As You Like It.

“I was Rosalind and Ganymede. They are actually the same person just Rosalind is pretending to be a boy. I am also the costumer. I make sure everyone has what they need to look presentable and as accurate to the time period as possible. ”As You Like It” was my eighth show. I have been doing [shows] since I got here as a sophomore. I have been doing plays for 10 years. I do like 70 percent acting and now I do all of the costuming, I did everything for “Oklahoma” and I did everything for As You Like It and I just started pulling things out for our next children’s show,” Ledvina said.

Ledvina shares some keys to acting and becoming the character you play.

“[Technique and preparation] depends on the show and the character you have. Last year there was a character I had where we were going through a difficult divorce. Every time we had these benches, he would sit at one end and I would sit at the other and I would think, I am going to lose him and it puts me in a different mindset. You are a completely different human from your character and that is the first step in being a successful actor. Realizing that there is a wall between the two of them and forcing yourself to get into that other person’s shoes,” Ledvina says.

Senior Hannah Musik shows even the smallest of characters can have a huge impact on a story.

“I played the character Le Beau which means dumb in French. Le Beau in the original play was a boy but Le Beau is kind of an androgynous character and no one really questions it. We ultimately went with making it a female character. Le Beau is a pretty small character and she is only there for one scene but she really moves the story along,” Musik said.

Le Beau is a flat character but a huge instigator to the plot as a whole according to Musik.

“She is basically the secretary for the duke who usurped all the land and that is one of the main conflicts in the show. She runs around and tells everybody what is going on and when. She is the one who introduces the two main characters of a love interest to each other but she also saves the main love interest who is Orlando. She warns him to leave where he is staying so that he can live and continue to go out and do things. Even though it is a small part, she had a huge influence on how the plot played out,” Musik said.

Theater and biology teacher P.J. Sirl gives input on the work that goes into creating a play and the experience that comes from it.

“I am the director, set designer, the head stage technician but my kids do a lot of the work and it is my job to teach them how to do it. We cast the show back in December and have rehearsals everyday after school. It starts in my brain as maybe a good idea or maybe not a good idea. First I have to decide on what we are going to do and it is based partially on who is around and then coming up with an overall design, idea and style for the show,” Sirl said.

After Sirl plans out the show, he gets to work at making the play a reality.

“I do a lot of research on the show and design a set at home. I come in a build the set and later in the process we hang lights and paint the set. I had some people in Ms. West’s class create posters. I have been doing theater since I was in sixth grade so about 42 years now and I thoroughly enjoy it and very fortunate to have this job,” Sirl said.

“[As You Like It] is about, as far as plot goes, some people who get exiled to the woods, from court and they end up falling in love with each other out there. Thematically love is a big theme but it contrasts courtly life or city life with outdoors. When you are in court everything is very strict and regimented, you cannot act upon your feelings and when you go out to the woods things are a little different. You can act on your feelings and show your true self,” Sirl said.