Bear River actors are going through the rehearsal stage of production as they prepare for their upcoming performance of “Play On.”

According to Director Sara Noah, the play will run on March 28, 29, and 30, and then on April 4, 5, and 6. She said that it will be a comedy, portraying a play being performed within the play.

“It is funny, and a very different style of play than the others that I have directed here at Bear River,” she said.

In the past, Mrs. Noah has directed “The Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Our Town,” “Legally Blonde,” “High School Musical,” and “And Then There Were None.”

Many of the actors also acknowledged the humor of the play.

“We worked really hard on [the play], and … I just think it’s going to be fun, and everyone will enjoy it, hopefully,” said Junior Bella Thornberry.

“It’s going to be really funny, so I think it would be great if people came to see it,” agreed Senior Mackenzie Martin.  

Martin, alongside most of the cast, has been in several Bruin productions. Meanwhile, Sophomore Noah Mann says that he is the only student with no acting experience.

“Experiencing something new for the first time, that’s always a blast,” he said. “I don’t know a lot about this because this is my first time … I am actually the only one on this cast who has not had any experience acting whatsoever, so it’s a little weird for me. It’s also really stressful because I feel like everybody knows what they’re doing, and then I’m just tagging along panicking.”

Still, he and many others said that the cast is really supportive, and has bonded well.

“We have a really small cast for this play, and it’s honestly really nice,” said Martin. “It’s always nicer having a small cast, because there’s less drama. I’ve been in every play since my sophomore year, and there’s definitely been … in the bigger plays, there’s more drama.”

“Everyone’s really nice, and we all connect really well,” agreed Thornberry. “I think, as a cast, we always bond really well, but, this one, it’s really nice because there’s no drama at all and everyone just seems to get along.”

Mrs. Noah said that she is particularly enjoying watching the varying personalities that are tied to the characters in the play.

“I love working with actors and watching them develop their characters and become more cohesive as a cast,” she said.

Mann shared his favorite thing to portray about his character.

“[My character is] a jokester,” he said. “He’s sarcastic, and he gets drunk – I think that’s what I’m most excited for, it’s really fun to do that. I think for me so far, it’s the being drunk [that’s my favorite] because acting drunk is really fun.”

Martin also highlighted her character’s sarcastic qualities.  

“She’s backstage crew, and she’s, like, super sarcastic and jokes around a lot,” Martin said. “I think that’s my favorite part of playing her.”

Meanwhile, Thornberry said that her character is less lighthearted.  

“I’m most looking forward to portraying how mad I get at everyone, because that’s kind of my whole thing as a character – I yell at everyone, and that’s kind of fun,” she said.

Mrs. Noah said that she also wanted to point out the work that the Bruin tech team is doing to prepare for show day.

“Come see the first big set that our Tech class has created!” she said.

Junior Leo Jackson is part of this group, and talked about her excitement for the show.

“I’m most looking forward to hearing what everybody enjoys about what we’ve done,” she said. “I mean, as tech, we’ve done so much for the play, so it’s always the best part to hear, like, ‘Oh, I loved the set,’ or ‘I loved the lights,’ just like it is for the actors to hear, like, ‘Wow the play was so good in general.’”

Mrs. Noah issued a final call to arms, bringing up the Bruin Core Values as reasoning to see the play.

“Support all of these Bruins who are showing a tremendous amount of Grit and Creative Curiosity,” she said.