It’s that time of year again where you begin to worry if you should call missing persons for all your friends in theater. Not to worry, they have not been kidnapped, they are just working on the latest fall play: The Lady from Maxims.

I will not say more on the plot than it involves a doctor waking to find himself in an odd predicament and mistaken identity is rampant. The twist and turns that follow make the play an endless comedy. I will leave the rest to the actors, techs and numerous other workers who dedicate their time to make the play a success.

“[There are] a lot more people involved, a bigger cast than for Anne Frank,” said senior Hannah Ramsey. It is true that students from all classes are involved in the process that we know as the fall play. From Tech Heads to Chorus dancers and singers the fall play is truly a demonstration of all pieces of WSHS’s theater department. The amount of devotion dedicated to this play from all these students is incredibly awe striking.

At the center of this storm of glitter, dance steps and set pieces is WS’s new theater director Bernie DeLeo. With stage lights on him last year for his debut to WS, I think that he has earned the trust and respect of the rest of the school after the success all around for the theater program. Armed with a penchant for unheard off but surprisingly entertaining plays, DeLeo has whipped the theater program into a well-oiled machine.

“Now he’s got the program where he wants it and it’s not as chaotic as it was [the year before he came],” said Ramsey. With the award winning success of The Other Room, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Drowsy Chaperon from last year, I think it is safe to say that everyone at WS is eager to see what comes out of what is shaping up to be an interesting year.

Watching the theater program is like gearing up for a sports season. You look for the star, returning players, watch for up and coming ones, look at the coach and which players he calls up to the plate. Then you study each play like a game and enjoy the product and from there the cycle repeats. Any day now there will be baseball cards of the actors and techs and students will be trading them, discussing and comparing performances like baseball stats.

So for all those wondering whether to go to the fall play, here is your decision: Go, the season is shaping up to be amazing.

“[Everyone is] working very hard, they’re so dedicated to their passion, to their craft,” said senior Samantha McAnallen.