Maizenews.com || December 2018
drama picked TO PERFORM AT STATE FESTIVAL
Above: Senior Arissa Brown, junior Brayden Worden and senior Keegan Johnston act in Maize’s production of “Proof.” The show was originally performed In September. Top right: Senior Arissa Brown and senior Abby Wray share dialogue in a scene of “Proof.” Wray shared her feelings after finding out about “Proof”making it to Thespian Festival, “On Tuesday, she (Kathleen Barbara) got an email during fourth block,”Wray said “And we were watching a movie. She flipped on the lights, rubbed her face, and we all started crying.” Bottom right: Senior Arissa Brown plays senior Keegan Johnston’s daughter in the production. Photos by Keith Johnston
Story by Madi Hay The Maize drama department was selected to perform at the Kansas Thespian Festival in January. A group of actors will perform “Proof ” for two shows. “I’m very excited,” said senior Keegan Johnston, who plays Robert. “This is a big opportunity, and we were one of the top-three rated shows in the state. It’s a big deal that we get to perform for all the theater kids in Kansas.” Johnston is joined in the cast by senior Arissa Brown (Catherine), junior Brayden Worden (Hal) and senior Abby Wray (Claire). A crew dedicated to stage managing and set construction also will participate. They originally performed “Proof ” three times in September. It is about a woman whose father is world-renowned mathematician. He suffered from mental illness, and she took care of him later in life. “He dies, and then she is concerned that not only she got his intelligence, but also she is losing her mind as well,” Johnston said. “It’s a really interesting story about
“Proof” will have an open dress rehearsal Jan. 1 in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. her trying to figure that out.” “Proof ” will be the first show at the festival. Wray said the group will put in a lot of preparation between now and then, including rehearsals during Christmas break. “We are relearning our lines, and we are doing some different things with the set after receiving some comments from the adjudicators,” she said. Wray said the set was taken apart be-
cause they didn’t think they were going to be selected. “We actually took down the set the day before we found out, and we had kept it up for this two-month period,” she said. Wray said they waited all Thanksgiving break to find out. When they came back to school and hadn’t heard, they assumed the play wasn’t chosen. Wray said the director is usually notified before the list goes out to everyone. This year, though, a new person was in charge and director Kathleen Barbara didn’t find out until Tuesday. “She got an email during fourth block, and we were watching a movie,” Wray said. “She flipped on the lights, rubbed her face, and we all started crying.” While the group was hoping for this opportunity, Johnston said he was not expecting it. “There’s not a lot of times slots available,” Johnston said. “There was really a slim chance, but we are really happy that we got it.” n
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