Student writing comes alive.

The performances in Writer’s Showcase are written, chosen, directed and performed by students. 

“The Board [made up of students] selects the pieces of writing, and then they hand that writing over to the student directors,” Writers Showcase sponsor Lisa Oberman says. “It’s the job of the student directors to first hold auditions and cast the show, and they sit down along with the cast to figure out how to get each of those pieces of writing up on stage.”

With only a cast and crew of 19 students, they have a strenuous task of turning student writing into a live performance.

“[The student directors] have to do some cutting, come up with a concept, figure out how to handle the narration of the story and figure out who the characters are gonna be,” Oberman says.

Two young directors, sophomores Olive Cantor and Chloe Harris, both took on big roles in the directors of this show. This year’s performances took place on March 14, 15 and 16. 

With a variety of writing styles in Writer’s Showcase, there were many hilarious moments, but there was also a good balance of serious scenes. From satirical news segments to heartfelt pieces, there was everything the audience could’ve asked for. Each actor captured the spirit of each piece.

I can’t speak for the rest of the audience, but I thought the real kiss in the piece Funland was a good ol’ happy ending for the two characters in the scene.

With the show being produced entirely by students, I thought they could’ve added pieces of writing to the show that reference ETHS to make it more relatable for students. Scenes such as “Ode to Summer, Bunny” and “The Last Time (He Says)” confused me as to why they were included in this particular production; these scenes felt more random and didn’t contribute as much to the entire show in comparison to other scenes.

Writer’s Showcase is a great way for the students involved to gain a sense of independence. It isn’t typical for a high school performance to not have an older adult helicoptering over the production; Writer’s Showcase is different in this sense.

“My role is the adult who opens the Little Theater, so they can have rehearsal,”Oberman explains. “It’s entirely student run… I don’t do any actual directing, I’m not directly involved with choosing the cast, or the pieces of writing.”

Although I didn’t feel it had the same humor in the funny scenes and the emotional scenes were not as well executed as last year’s show, the students of Writer’s Showcase put on a wonderful show.