Jay Gatsby, the larger-than-life main character in one of the most widely read books in high school comes to life at EHS.

You can see the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald performed by the Englewood Theatre Company on Friday, November 10, and Saturday, November 11 in the black box theatre.

After months of work on sets, costumes, props, and more the thespian troupe is excited to put on their annual fall play with the title character, Jay Gatsby, played by Aztlan Bonilla Medina, and the other lead Daisy Buchanan, played by Juniper Alexander.

Medina is a senior and says this is his second lead in the last two weeks, "I like the idea of being able to play someone who is mysterious because you can really play with that character in what aspects he's mysterious in which excites me, primarily because I get to interact with each and every character differently. And I don't necessarily have to treat everyone with the same kind of respect as that character."

He says despite a rocky start to the theater season, he says now it feels good, "I'm proud of what everyone's accomplished. Everyone's working together. It feels like a family. I'm proud of everyone who has stepped up because we've had a lot of positions that have had many holes in them. But it does feel like we're gonna have a tight cast and crew this year and moving forward. It's really exciting to see."

Next year, it looks like more acting for Medina, "I've been accepted to four colleges so far for acting. So I'm gonna continue this career either at Chicago, Seton Hall, University of Colorado, or Southern California."

The theatre department has gone through a lot in the past couple of years including the lack of a sponsor and director. A lot of actors at EHS were left thinking there would be no play this year. It also left everyone who participated in theatre worried about the future of the club.

The current sponsor is also the school psychologist, Patrick Mashka. He took on the role of director and sponsor after hearing about the lack of a teacher or staff member willing to take on the task, “I’m glad I'm available and I'm somebody who loves this. So I was happy to step in.”

(continue on page 2)

Gatsby wasn't the first choice, "So we were originally going to do a different show, but didn't have quite enough students to fill the cast. So I gave some other options to the students and they chose The Great Gatsby. They were super excited about it."

Maschka says he loves theater, and he loves stage production, "I've done that most of my life and so I knew we didn't have a teacher. So I just put it out there to our administrators that I'd be willing to direct a fall play and take on the group. And so it's unfortunate we don't have a teacher but I'm glad I'm available and I'm somebody who loves this. So I was happy to step in."

Actors say there is a lot of buzz around this play already, and cast and crew alike were looking forward to the two days they get to perform this for students, staff, and parents alike.

There is a lot of work and effort put into the shows and with that comes stress over deadlines. A crucial aspect of putting on plays and musicals is the stage crew. Assistant stage manager, junior Ajax Dotson says all aspects are equally important, “Running crew has to run through the show countless times before opening night just to make sure we give the people watching the best show we can.”

Maschka says the audience will love this play "We've got some fine actors in this show, and the play is very short, under an hour and a half, total stage time, but it captures the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, and some of those key moments and visuals so it's gonna be good."