Students in the Winterstock Intensive were surprised to find that they can put together a play in the span of the intensive. Each year, during winter intensives, a group of students participate in the production of a play.

The cast is only given three weeks from the time they are given their roles to the opening night of the play. Some of the students are given a role to perform on stage, and some of them work behind the scenes to build the set.

A three-week time period can be challenging, especially for a role that involves a lot of lines. 8th grader Ava Filer, who was cast as the main character’s mother, was surprised that she was able to learn her lines so quickly,

“I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to memorize all my lines in three weeks, but after we practiced a few times, I learned the role,” Filer said.

The cast has one week to spend with their scripts after being given a role. They then practice without it during the next week.

“The first week we were allowed to use our script, in the second week we weren’t allowed to but we can call to ask what our lines are,” 8th Grader Thea Martell said.

I would say at the start we were definitely struggling a little, but now since we practiced, we’ve gotten more comfortable with our lines.”

8th grader Amelia Lipton explained that a day for a student in the Winterstock is structured in a way so that students get designated times to practice the things they need to.

“The first half of the day we are working on blocking,” Amelia Lipton said. “In the afternoon we focus more on stagecraft, but we can practice our lines if we feel like we need more practice.”

Together, the cast has to work as a team to coordinate the production in a strict deadline. The fact that students have the entire day to work on their assigned task is one advantage of intensives.

“I feel like we have a lot of time to practice our lines because we have the full day compared to a regular four period class schedule,” Filer said.