High schoolers to put on play

After a first-place Seminole District win in the fall, the theater program at Amherst County High School is preparing to stage productions over several days this month.

“Rumors,” a humorous, farcical Neil Simon play, will be staged by two different casts on two weekends this month, Jan. 14-16 and Jan. 21-23. All shows are $5 and begin at 7:30 p.m. at the high school.

The play is set at a dinner party with affluent couples but also with suspicious circumstances, which leads to humorous back-and-forth between the characters.

Two casts give more students a chance to perform, said Patricia Emmert, a nine-year teacher with seven at Amherst County High School. Her husband, David Emmert, teaches ceramics there, her brother, Chris Chamberlin, teaches ecology and biology there and her sister, Katie Chamberlin, teaches math at Elon Elementary School.

The program benefits significantly from the Amherst Theatre Boosters, she said. “To keep it robust, we need volunteers and donations.”

The students find benefits individually as well as in working as a team.

“I like side roles a lot,” said Hunter Duffield, 18, a senior who was named best actor at the district competition. “They seem to have a bit more characterization to them.”

After trying football and wrestling and not finding a connection he was looking for, Duffield tried theater and has embraced it. “There’s a lot of growing, both as individuals and in teamwork,” he said.

Theater is “a real welcoming environment with well-rounded people” and involves acting, directing and improvisation, he said. “You get to experience so many aspects of theater.” He plans to major in business and minor in theater at Virginia Tech.

A major spring musical production of “Godspell” is planned, for which everyone at the high school can audition, Emmert said.

“Godspell” is a musical rendition of the gospel of St. Matthew, set in New York City in the late 1960s. “Jesus” is a wandering minstrel dressed as a clown, and the characters flamboyantly re-enact Biblical parables.

‘Rumors’
-Jan. 14-16 and Jan. 21-23
-7:30 p.m. at Amherst County High School
-Tickets: $5