By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

New York Mills students are learning the ins and outs of acting skills and media formats this semester in Audrey Walz’s Intro to Acting and Media class. The students are putting their knowledge to work as they practice their one-act play, entitled “The Yes-You-Have-To, Multiple Choice, Terrifyingly-Significant, Biggest-Of-The-Deal Exam!”

This play, chosen by the junior high students, showcases 16 students who anxiously gather to take a test. Their nervousness at the test increases exponentially when the exam’s proctor tells them “You are here for the biggest examination of your life. How you do on this test will determine absolutely everything. Try to relax.”

As the exam begins, it becomes more and more confusing for the students and amusing for the audience. Strange questions, arbitrary answers, and electric shocks make for a terrifying examination. In a final twist, the truth finally comes out that the test, in all its strangeness and changing rules, really showcases life’s challenges.

A total of 20 seventh and eighth grade students involved in the Intro to Acting and Media class and will be participating in various ways in the play. While this play is not open to the public, NY Mills students will be able to enjoy the performance on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. and to see the new skills of each student, along with the adaptation of a one-act play this year.

“It has helped provide my students many opportunities to be challenged, to grow, and to shine,” said Walz. “It is so rewarding to see them use their creativity, talents and the skills we worked on in the first quarter of the class.”

“This class is an introduction for junior high students where the first semester focuses on acting/theater and the second semester focuses on media,” she continued. “I hope they gain more confidence in themselves knowing that they will have done something that many people are afraid to do. I also hope they develop a love for acting and performance arts and continue to act and perform, whether it’s through other plays, speech, mock trial, etc.”

Walz has enjoyed teaching the Intro to Acting and Media, as well as the Improv and Acting Class which performed the community play last year. She said that despite the hard work, she enjoys seeing the finished product and providing the opportunity for her students to perform in front of an audience.

“I’m most looking forward to seeing these students perform for a live audience,” she said. “Seeing and talking with students full of excitement after a live performance is definitely something to behold. No matter how the performance goes, I know how much these students have worked and prepared, and many of them have never performed as an ensemble in front of an audience. So, I’m most looking forward to seeing and feeling their excitement.

“My favorite part is seeing the students grow individually and collaborate together,” she continued. “Many of the ideas that bring humor or life to the performance have come from the students themselves. They are a talented group. I’ve also appreciated their respect towards each other and willingness to work together. As for the content of the play itself, I really like the twist it provides in the end.”