The Emperor's Final Bow

By Myra Lim

At 8:48 PM on April 27th, in Harbor Hall, seniors Angel, Dora, Jun Sheng, Limey, Matthew, and myself bowed for the last time as Dalat drama students.  

As early as January 11th, Miss Geiman had put out on the announcements board that drama auditions would begin. By the next day, the Home Ec. classroom was reserved especially for those who wish to audition (or to sign up as crew). On the brown tables outside the class, snippets of the semester’s script were placed and marked; accordingly, some were marked for “1 boy and 1 girl”, “2 boys”, and even “2 boys and 1 girl.” 

By January 17th, those who had auditioned were able to meet in Harbor Hall to discover what roles Miss Geiman and Mrs. Ho had assigned them. We also discovered that this year, we would be performing two plays instead of one; The Emperor’s Nightingale was set in the east while The Emperor’s New Clothes was set in the west. Although sounding different, both stories included humor and the use of one’s imagination.

After months of toil and the repetitive lines of “Our poor stomachs” and “Dungeon!” every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we had arrived in the week of production. The only thing left remaining for the cast was to make sure they were attending every rehearsal leading up to Friday in order to bring the plays to life for the Dalat community. 

Thanks to the help of Mr. Roylance and his Tech Theater classes, we were able to have a real-life set of a bamboo forest that was completed three hours before opening night. And another round of applause to the Makeup Club, led by juniors Finley White and Sarah Loh. Everyone was able to have their faces beautified to fit the stage lighting as well as hair to fit their characters. This was the second time the club was able to be involved in a drama production, the first time being involved in the fall production, Afraid of the Dark. 

Entering through the doors as early as 6:30 PM (Friday and Saturday night) or 1:30 PM (Saturday afternoon), the guests were welcomed by two Guzheng players, freshman Zi Xin Huang and junior Grace Cao to set the mood of the first play as it was set in ancient China. As the pair finished and were complimented by a round of applause, Miss Geiman got up the stage thanking the Guzheng duo and the audience for giving up their time to watch us perform. 

The play then officially begun with the two Chorus Women, played by Sarah Loh (11) and myself greeting the audience as well as narrating the story of The Emperor’s Nightingale. 

Ending with the curtain call, Jonathan Ooi (10), who played the Emperor of China, was the last one to come out. After gesturing to both the backstage crew and those at the tech booth, he stood up gesturing for both cast and crew on the stage to take a bow together. 

Newcomer, Matthew Platt (12) who played Emperor Velvet in The Emperor’s New Clothes describes the end to be “reaching a top of the hill.” 

And just like that, the realization had come for the six seniors, and it was truly their final bow.