HHS presents an 'Evening of Drama'

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 12th-grade students from the Havre High School theater troupe will be directing plays in an "Evening of Drama," comprising one-act plays they will be directing for the school and public. One of these plays will be an original play written and directed by senior Caroline Tuss.

Tuss, whose play is titled "Dear Mom," decided to write the play after Havre High School Theater Director Angie Pratt encouraged the incoming seniors to write their own plays for the end-of-year performances, where seniors in the troupe direct and act in plays along with the underclassmen in the group.

"I have encouraged the students since the beginning to write their own show, but it wasn't until this year that I had a student step up to the plate," Pratt said. "Caroline's piece is a great jewel in the crown of one-acts this year."

She added that it is a great and rare opportunity for the other students to be able to experience being a part of a first-time writer's production.

Tuss' play is a personal one as it focuses a lot on her mother, Pam Hillery. Hillery was a long-time Havre resident who was well known for her social and political activism before she died after a three-and-a-half-year battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Tuss said her play is presented as a series of letters which detail her life from her birth to after her mother's death.

"It was very therapeutic," Tuss said. "I was able to confront a lot of things."

"It let me see my mom as a real person," she added.

"It's a raw, real show that touches on love, loss, hope and a honest look at life and death," Pratt said.

Tuss, who said it took her about nine to 10 months to write the play, said her family has been very supportive of her writing this personal story.

Tuss' dad, Paul, read all the first drafts before she moved on to the next part of her writing.

She was happy, she said, when her dad and brother, Dolan, gave her the go-ahead to present her family's story on stage.

"I feel petrified," Tuss said about having her play performed for the first time, but she said she feels it will be a good thing. She said she is also appreciative of her co-director Rory Everingham for supporting her and helping her so much with the play.

Pratt said that when she started working at the high school she felt it was important for the students to not only work on acting but also learn the art of directing and how to be directed by their peers.

"Hopefully this will light a fire under other authors to try their hand at play writing," she said.

The other student directors are Austin Nelson, directing "Young Tommy Atkins" by Jon Tilly; Jenna Meldrum, directing "Check, Please" by Jonathan Rand; Hanna Bricker and Erika Holsapple, directing "Genre" by Wade Bradford, and Brandon Matté directing "Bob's Date" by John Shanahan.

"Each year I give the seniors a chance to take on the directing responsibilities. They have to pick a show, present it, cast it, rehearse it and bring it to a final product," Pratt said.

She works with each student, she added, to help them learn how to make their ideas into reality and she said she feels it has been a great chance for the theater club members to grow.

Each year she is amazed at how well the students do, Pratt said.

"All of the directors have worked hard and have put together a good show of this town's talent," she added. "The talent in the Havre youth never ceases to amaze me."

An "Evening of Drama" starts at 7:30 p.m. each night, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for students and pre-kindergarten and younger have free admission.