With a new one-act play, “I Hate War,” Drama Teacher Jelita Perry has big goals for her theater classes.  “I Hate War” is a farcical tragedy which means it is excessive.

  “Farce usually has a lot of physical humor and sometimes it is violent in a very over-exaggerated cartoon kind of way,” Perry said. “This one is kinda making fun of how much violence is tolerated in our society, but in a humorous way.”

   Perry’s theater class will be performing their one-act play at two big events this fall.  On October 27th, at 1:30 pm, theater will be competing in the Virginia Theater Association Conference, which is a three-day high school theater festival. The following weekend, November 5th, theater will perform at Jefferson Forest High School in the first level of Virginia High School League’s theater competitions. Theater has switched VHSL districts, making this year more competitive.

  “In the group we have been in before, we would typically do very well in the first level of VHSL competition,” Perry said. “It is a whole new group and there are some very high-quality theater classes. A big goal for me is to continue to improve in comparison to these new schools.”

  Since the virtual Covid-19 years of school, theater has not competed in state-level competitions.

“I would really like to place in VHSL so we can go on to regionals or go to states,” Mainstage Senior Ethan Phelps said.

  Perry teaches two theater classes,  Introductory I Theater and Mainstage Theater. Anyone can sign up for and take Introductory I Theater while Mainstage is audition-only. Everyone who is accepted into Mainstage gets a part in the play.

  “Once you get into Mainstage, you can audition for multiple roles and Mrs. Perry puts you in a role that fits you best,” Mainstage Sophmore Cole Harkey said.

  Perry enjoys putting students in roles even though it can be tough.

  “It’s sort of like putting together a puzzle,” Perry said. “Everybody has a place where they fit and there has to be someone in every spot. Sometimes a student is capable of playing several roles, but their puzzle piece has to be in a different spot because someone else can only fit in one spot.”