This year’s student directors, Scarlett Buatte, Bailey Morgan, and Bob Meyers are fresh off of starring in “Urinetown” as Officer Barrel, Senator Fipp and Officer Lockstock. Photo courtesy of senior Roslyn Risner.
Theater at San Luis Obispo High School is busy regardless of the season, with very little off-time between shows. This means that it’s already time for students to start preparing for the third trimester show, or what is better known as the student directed performance.
This year seniors Bailey Morgan and Bob Meyers are directing “Murder on the Orient Express,” along with stage manager Avery Sheffield and scenic director Scarlett Buatte.
The student-directed productions from the past two years have been following the theme of play adaptations of books which are required reading, with “The Great Gatsby” being performed in 2024, followed by “Frankenstein” last year.
“We wanted to keep up the theme of a well known piece of literature that students would connect with. [The novel] ‘Murder On The Orient Express’ is taught at SLOHS and above all we wanted the show to be fun and something that the actors would enjoy,” said Morgan.
The student directed show is always a very unique opportunity for theater students to interact with their peers through a primarily student-led production. Directors also get the chance to work on an entirely different set of skills from being focused on acting.
“One of the nicest parts of student directed shows is the fact that you’re able to spread the wealth a little bit more, and we’re able to give underclassmen the opportunity to get involved in theater, and especially plays, which are very different from musicals,” said Buatte.
Being a director is not only a rare opportunity for students, but it takes a lot of different skills, from communication and organization to understanding the technical side of theater.
“Bailey’s the main director, she has the vision and her decisions are final, and Scarlett’s official title is scenic director so she’ll be focused more on tech stuff. I’m mostly there to assist Bailey and help the actors with their character work. The main thing is accents, which this shows a lot off, so I’m going to be helping the actors with those,” said Meyers.
All these aspects make the choice to have three co-directors, one which will hopefully help “Murder On The Orient Express,” go off without a hitch, without all the stress landing on one person.
While all the directors for this show have primarily been on the acting side, they are excited to participate through this new lens.
“It’s definitely bittersweet, because I’m sad to not be on stage myself, but I’m really excited to start this new experience, and I feel like it’ll be really good to just work with actors instead of being one,” said Morgan.
As of now, the show dates for “Murder On The Orient Express,” are night shows at seven p.m. on April 30, May 1, and 2, with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on May 2.
Whether or not you’ve attended theater shows in the past, this one is bound to be one you won’t want to miss!
