Places Everyone

By Sarah Loh

“Three pats,” said Nadia Book (11). She held a little crochet turtle in front of each cast member as they walked through the band room backstage. Patting the turtle before every drama production for good luck became a tradition.

Whispers quiet down as we hear someone say, “It’s 7 pm!” The first show was starting. Since there were three different plays, the cast of the third one, which began after intermission, waited anxiously in the band room while the others performed.

Three hours before opening night, the cast and crew ran around, either quickly eating their meals to change into their costumes or grabbing more paint to finish the set. Everything was quite chaotic, to say the least. “The most chaotic part was when we had to prepare things at the last minute and try to find something that was lost,” said Kirti Ramasamy (9), one of the crew members. 

Makeup Club contributed to the production, too. “Our makeup crew for the drama production was so big, which made it a lot easier and quicker for us to cover the entire cast. It was a lot of fun, being part of the behind the scenes, and we were able to work efficiently and productively, producing a beautiful quality of makeup for the production,” Faith Loh (10) said. 

As the curtains opened, the cast went out there and showcased the hours of hard work they had put into this production during the past months. “Opening night was the greatest mix of excitement and anxiety, but it seemed to all melt away as soon as I stepped out on stage. It was a great night of bonding for the cast and crew,” Gabriella Uzzle (12) said.

Once the first show jitters faded, everyone was excited to return on Saturday for the next two. But the second show did not go as planned. Eric Shyu (12), who had already been sick and coughing during production week, recalls, “Lindsay saying “Ang Bao” and my nose starting to bleed 3 seconds after,” an hour before having to go on stage.

Right before our third and final performance, Ms. Geiman told us some of the comments from the people in the crowd the night before. “‘This is the best play I’ve ever seen,’ ‘the accents were really good!’” and during the performance, when Morgana died, someone behind her said, “Are you sure we’re at Dalat?” 

Overall, the three different Sherlock plays stunned many people and exceeded the expectations of Dalat Drama. I personally think drama is an incredible experience that everyone should try at least once. I’m so grateful for everyone who was a part of it and made it special.