slideshow

Nola Sizemore

Staff Writer

Looking for a great comedy? You’ll find one at the Frances Hamlin Auditorium, located in the Harlan Elementary School, to be presented on Nov. 16-17 at 7 p.m.

Students at the Harlan Independent School System will present “Just Another High School Play.” Tickets are $5 per person and are available at the door or by contacting the school. Parking is available along with a handicapped entrance.

“Just Another High School Play” is a story about a group of high school actors, who apparently have been abandoned by their drama teacher and have to fend for themselves on opening night in front of an impatient audience.

“The comedy covers nearly every angle of the typical high school play with a dose of history and improvisation thrown in for good measure,” said Drama teacher Kevin Crider. “What follows is a rollicking show full of physical comedy, gags and satirical re-writings of many plays from Shakespeare to Albee.”

Crider said the play will have high school and middle school actors participating. He said also assisting with the play is choir/drama teacher Mary Beth Chrisman and volunteer Heather Dickerson.

“The play involves nearly 40 students ranging from sixth graders to seniors,” said Crider. “We’ve been working on this since the beginning of the school year. We’d love to see the community come out and show their support for the work these students have put into this play. We’ve worked hours and hours after school and the students have put their blood, sweat and tears into having a play for everyone to enjoy.”

Crider said he feels students “need not only to recite facts from different courses, be a super power in athletics, but they also need to have that capacity to feel what they are learning.” He said he believes the arts enables them to do that. He also said he is committed to boosting the arts in Harlan County in anyway he can.

Crider is a Harlan High School advanced reading and study skills teacher and middle school language arts teacher. He is also teaching theater for the first year at the Harlan Independent School System.

He has degrees in English, drama and secondary education from Union College and taught theater at Evarts High School for five years with a list of successful productions.

Leaving Harlan County to reside in Oklahoma for 10 years, where he taught inner-city students, he returned to Harlan County because of his parents’ failing health. He has been at Harlan High School for the past two years, with this being the first for teaching drama at Harlan.

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510 or at nsizemore@heartlandpublications.com