by Jasmine Hansen
It is official. The one act play “Riders to the Sea” is coming. Seniors Sam Elge, Ansley Harvey, Kimberly Evans, Atticus Miller, and junior, Jorja Pholmier are the main characters, and the only scripted roles in this year's production.
“Riders to the Sea is”, an Irish tragedy about a family dealing with the loss of multiple family members who have died at sea.
The cast includes 17 ensemble members in addition to the five scripted roles.
“Most of those 22 ensemble members will be singing to help set the mood for the production. Many of our contests have an ensemble award, so earning that achievement is one of our major goals for this season, “ Mrs. Haynes said, one of two directors for this years’ play.
The mood those members will be helping orchestrate is “very heavy and sorrowful,” Sam said. He plays Bartley, son of Maurya, who is brought to life by Jorja’s character.
This year, the NSAA has added a new rule to play production. At competitions Aurora will attend, there will be a technical judge. These judges will rank plays on categories that may otherwise be overlooked, or categories that are, quite literally, behind the scenes. Mrs. Haynes added that this addition is exciting to Aurora since their crew means, and does so much for them. She said she is excited to see them be a part of competitions as well.
The first tentative date for the first competition is Nov. 9 in Cozad.