'Always trying something new' in theater

When people think of high school theater, they may not think of 24-hour plays, film festivals, card game nights, or state championships, but those are all part of the many things going on in the Green River High School theater department.

"We're always trying something new," Theater Director Bradlee Skinner said with a laugh.

From traditional to brand-new activities, the department regularly finds creative ways to have fun while learning and practicing new skills. 

24-hour creativity

The newest endeavor for the theater students in Green River is taking place this weekend with the 24-Hour Playwriting Festival. Students will write, rehearse and perform three brand new one-act plays, all within 24 hours. 

This idea came about after last year's successful, but tiring, 24-hour performance of "Puffs," where students performed the same show over and over for 24 hours straight.

"We had a ton of fun," Skinner said, adding, "I don't think I'll ever do that again. It was the most physically and mentally draining event I have ever done in my career." 

Wanting to do something similar, if a little less intense, the theater department decided to keep the 24-hour format but focus as much on the writing as the performing. Three student writers will have 12 hours, from 7 p.m. this Friday to 7 a.m. on Saturday, to write their plays. They will then hand the new scripts off to three student directors and their casts and crews, who will then have 12 hours to memorize and rehearse their shows before performing them at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

The opportunity to write a new play for this event was opened to any student in the school, and Skinner was hoping to have interest from beyond the theater department. 

"We want to find those kids that say 'I have a story to tell, I've just never told it, and this is my chance to do that,'" he said. 

The director positions will go to students who are looking at pursuing theater careers in college and wanting to get experience directing. Any other students in the high school wanting to be involved have been invited to join the casts and crews, either performing or helping put together technical elements including costumes, props, light and sound. Skinner hopes that this will also attract students beyond those who are typically involved, especially since it's less of a time commitment and will focus on a unique form of creativity. 

Because this is the first time this type of event has been done at the high school, Skinner said they aren't sure what to expect, or whether or not it will become a regular event. 

"We wanted to give it a shot and see, does it work? Is it something awesome, or does it fail miserably? And we're okay with either one, because at least we're gonna give it a shot and find out," he said.

Anyone wanting to see how it turns out can attend the performance at 7 p.m. this Saturday, January 25 at the high school. Tickets are $5 and are available online or at the door. 

Featuring filmmaking

While the GRHS theater department keeps finding ways to be creative on the stage, they're also continually finding ways to be creative off the stage as well. One major area the department has branched out into over the past few years is filmmaking. 

Next weekend, four Green River students will have their short films featured in the Casper International Film Festival. Keira Mollman and Rhiannon Schultz each have short films that received awards at the state level and will now be included in this festival. They also teamed up with classmates Payton Shiner and Brayden Thompson to make a longer film to help support suicide prevention and mental health awareness, which will also be featured at the Casper festival. 

"This one's not just a student film festival, this one is open to all entries from anywhere," Skinner explained, pointing out that most of the films are from Wyoming, but the festival does include films from other places, and even other countries. "We're hoping that they'll have some opportunities up there to talk to other filmmakers and just learn more about this craft." 

The desire to learn more about filmmaking has been steadily growing in the theater department as a whole, Skinner explained. Over the past five years, he's seen more students be involved with film projects. He's watched their work continually improve, and watched it inspire younger students to also keep pushing to do even better. 

"The more that we've been branching out with film, we're getting more students that are looking at that avenue," he said.

One of the theater department's latest activities goes hand-in-hand with learning these types of skills. When several students wanted to form a Trading Card Game Club to host tournaments for games like Pokemon and Magic the Gathering, they also began to get an audience interested in watching the games. With the addition of a livestream, new ideas have continued to develop, such as having a camera above the table for overhead shots of the game – giving students even more chances to practice film skills. 

"It just comes from the creativity of the students, suggestions that we get from our audience, and we just try to cater to what people want," Skinner said. "And hopefully at the same time, we're also teaching valuable skills that the students can parlay into either college or to possible career avenues."

Strength on the stage

Even as theater students at GRHS branch out into new forms of creativity, they also are continuing with more traditional forms of theater education and performances. 

Taking their skills to the state level, a group of theater students represented Green River at the Wyoming State Thespian Festival in December. While they were disappointed to come up short of the championship title that they claimed last year, the students still had a successful competition, bringing home 28 All-State awards and 21 Honorable Mentions. 

"That's the most we've ever had in school history," Skinner explained. "Seeing the kids being excited for their own work and cheering and celebrating for their teammates – that was awesome." 

Skinner was also named Theater Director of the Year at the event, and again said the best part was seeing the student's reactions and their excitement for him. 

Looking forward to the rest of the semester, the theater department is already two weeks into rehearsal for their spring musical, "Hadestown," which Skinner said is "shaping up to be one of the best shows that we've ever done." The show will involve the entire performing arts department at the high school, bringing in students from the choir and jazz band, and will be a story that takes audiences on an emotional rollercoaster, according to Skinner. 

The department will also be working with Golden Hour Senior Center once again to perform a murder mystery dinner theater event at the end of the semester. Last year's dinner sold out, and Skinner expects it to be popular again, hinting that this year it will have a New Orleans theme and may include a shrimp boil. 

When it comes to the wide variety of activities in the theater department, Skinner noted that sports teams in high school are expected to not only practice regularly but continually improve through competition. Just as sports teams wouldn't improve if they only played two games a year, he doesn't expect theater students to be able to learn much only doing two shows a year, so he's always looking for more opportunities. 

Skinner also noted this wouldn't be possible without the support he receives from others, including his wife Melissa who helps him with everything, and the backing of the school district. 

"I couldn't do what I do without that help and without that support from school leadership recognizing the value in it," Skinner said. 

And while he is always trying to find ways for the department to improve, Skinner also recognized that it's not always about doing the greatest shows or winning the most awards. 

"Sometimes it's the unexpected moments that make it all worth it," he said. "Like having a parent come in and asking, 'Can I visit with you for a minute?' And having them say, 'thank you for giving my child a place that they feel like they belong.' And that itself tells me that I'm doing okay."

For Skinner, the most important thing is having theater be a "safe harbor" for students, and knowing that "they can be themselves, that they can express themselves in a positive way, that they can learn valuable skills that they can take with them when they leave my class – then that's enough."