You make your way through the dim hallway, looking for the right door. There it is. You step in: walls completely black, a few rows of chairs arranged against three sides, an open floor. The lights dim, the actors step onstage and the play begins.

If you squinted your eyes, you could imagine an off-off-broadway stage, but it is simply Advanced Drama in the Black Box Theater.

The class performed a 45-minute play at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The show, titled “Dystopia! The Hungry Maze Game of Divergent Death,” was about people randomly selected to perform in a potentially fatal reality show, clearly a parody of recent teen novels. Drama One and Advanced Repertory Theater classes also performed at various times throughout the week (see schedule below).

Admission to the event was free, though donations were welcome. The audience of 75 was mostly made up of the performing students’ friends and family, who clapped loudly after each scene and joined the young actors after the show for coffee, cake and cookies.

End of the year performances are typical for Manhattan High’s drama classes, according to teacher Linda Uthoff.  

“We normally do several [plays] a year, and we like to do end-of-the-year ones, though it can be hard with scheduling at the end of the year,” Uthoff said. “I also think part of the experience of being a drama student is, ‘oh, we’ve been working and rehearsing… what are we rehearsing for?’ So you need the experience of being in front of an audience. You also need it to get the timing down and learn how to handle it when they [members of the audience] laugh, and to learn how to handle the nerves when you have to be in front of them … It’s also good for parents to see what they’ve been working on. We always encourage that.”

Three weeks ago, students selected their scripts, which ranged from dramas about sexual assault in college to light comedies.  

“[The play we picked] worked best for our class because of all the characters,” junior Ashley Szymaniak of Advanced Drama said. “There was a lot that we could do with it.”

After selecting a script, drama students read it aloud together. Then they decided whether they wanted to act, direct or work behind stage. If they chose to act, they auditioned for specific roles in front of their peers. Once Uthoff selected roles, class time was spent in preparation.

Students enjoyed the performances.

“It was fun,” sophomore Winona Climenhaga said. “I was just kind of nervous because I’m, like, a generally nervous person, but once you get out there you just kind of, you know you’re like, ‘these are my lines.’”

“I liked seeing the whole show come together after days and days of rehearsals,” sophomore Gabrielle Smith said. “And then the final product was so much better than the rehearsal that day had been, so I’m just really proud of [the students I directed]. Like, they’re my children.”