Because of construction in the fine arts section of the building and because the band uses the stage for rehearsals several class periods each day, Temple High Theatre will be performing some shows at alternate locations during this school year.
The first show will be Wilderness, performed at Meridith-Dunbar Auditorium, October 3-6. The play deals with the true stories of six teenagers with various mental illnesses and other problems. Their parents send them to a wilderness therapy camp where they have to learn to cope with their self-destructive tendencies through learning basic survival skills. (PG-13)
Fall Footlights (An Evening of Short Plays with Desserts and Drinks) will be Thursday, October 10 and Saturday, October 12 at 7 p.m. (Note: Earlier time) in the Temple High School Main Cafeteria.
Thursday, November 7 and Sunday, November 10 will be an Interactive Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre.
The group will attend the annual Texas Thespian Festival November 20-23 in Grapevine. The festival typically includes over 8000 attendees. A shortened edition of the play Wilderness will be performed at the convention. Temple will also compete in various individual and team events. Last year, they won state championships in team set design and team mask making, were a finalist for Troupe of the Year and advanced all eight individual event entries to the national contest.
December 13-14-15 brings A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play, presented as a Newcomers Show, on the Temple High stage. The Charles Dickens holiday classic comes to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast, complete with vintage commercials.
Performances of the comedy Love/Sick will be January 24-26 on the Temple High stage. The play, from the creator of Almost, Maine, is a collection of several slightly twisted and completely hilarious short plays. Every scene is about love, and especially about love's power to make you sick — not only heartsick, but sometimes physically ill.
Auditions for the annual UIL One-Act Play Contest entry will be January 27 and 28. The first level of competition (zone) will be Saturday, February 29. Last year, Temple advanced through all levels of the contest and, at the state finals, was named 5th in the state out of the 254 schools that began the contest in 6A.
In addition, Mrs. Tolleson is directing several shows for other local theatre organizations. At the Cultural Activities Center, she will direct Eurydice in November and The Diary of Anne Frank in April. Cat of a Hot Tin Roof will be performed in January-February at Temple Civic Theatre.