Every year the drama three class performs two class produced shows per year. This winter the class performed a comedy called I Hate Shakespeare starring senior Dan Goettel and junior Katie Koerber. Senior Eli Hohenberger and Koerber will be directing the class’s spring show: Crush.

    Koerber explains, “I’m so excited to have my first directing experience with this specific group of people. They are all so talented, dedicated, and wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better cast.”

    Crush is set in the small town of Pincushion California where the local high school is preparing to put on the play Our Town. The main character, Bark Melon (played by Goettel), wants the lead role but can’t focus on his auditions when new girl Aspen comes into the picture. However, Aspen isn’t what she seems. Only Bark can see her hidden secret and is deemed crazy by the rest of his town. Bark must convince everyone in his community of Aspen’s dangerous qualities before she destroys all of Pincushion.

    This play is a dramatic sci-fi filled with romance, comedy, and heartbreak. The thing that stood out most to Koerber after choosing this show was the stance it takes against the stigmatizing of mental health.

    Koerber states, “It touches on the experiences of those who suffer from mental illness, how their community reacts to them (positively and negatively), and the common feelings of worthlessness and being unloved among teenagers.”

   As head of tech crew for this show, Aaron Rogers, reports, “What sets this show apart from other shows I’ve been a part of is how it drives a strong idea through an allegory of sorts, the motifs and ideas in the show are very serious but many events seem rather absurd, as well as it being a homage to one of my favorite shows: Our Town.”

    The play will be performed in the auditorium on April 18th and 19th. Admission is only a dollar or a canned good at the door.