In my 4 years here at Morris Hills, I was able to do both theatre and writing, two things that I’ve always loved, through the Theatre Arts class, acting in the plays and doing crew for some shows. Even though I didn’t know that I wanted to direct the student production until late last school year, I knew that I wanted to direct something that I created. 

I wrote this show because I always wanted to write a comedy, since I’ve always felt like laughter was better than sadness or intensity. I came up with this idea after watching She’s All That and realizing how many romantic comedy tropes were used in it. I started thinking about how many genres of movies have common tropes in them and how often they happened. It took me a while to come up with the outline and the dialogue of the show, and I got help from some of my friends, like my stage manager, Becky. I thought that a horror, rom-com, and action movie would be a fun combination to put on the stage. I also knew that I wanted the actors to have the ability to improve and have a little fun with their characters.

My concern with writing this show was making sure that there were actual jokes and not just ideas that I thought were funny in my head and not on the stage. My other concern was putting a water gun fight on the stage, because I didn’t want the actors to hurt themselves or shoot too much water at each other. However, my actors were able to be responsible with the water guns while still having a lot of fun, which made the rehearsal process a great time for everyone.

I have a lot of people that I would like to thank for helping to make this production possible. Firstly, I would like to thank Becky, my amazing stage manager for helping me create this show. She not only stage managed my production, but she also helped in writing the show and making sure that everything made sense. She has kept me calm throughout this whole process and I couldn’t have asked for a better stage manager. I would also like to thank Mr. Fahrer for helping me in directing this. As this was my first time directing, I am so grateful to have someone there that could guide me through everything and keep me on the right track. Not only was he an amazing advisor, but he was also generous enough to spend his time as a member of my cast. I would also like to thank my amazing cast. We’ve been through our ups and downs with this show, but you guys helped me make this production everything that I hoped that it would be. I’m so happy that I got to direct you guys. I would like to thank the crew of this production. You guys killed it with the set changes and  the whole set. I am so happy that I not only get to be a part of the crew with you guys, but that you also want to make sure that my production and the other directors’ go smoothly. I would also like to thank the two other directors, Alana and Zoe, for making the whole student production amazing with both of your shows, and for helping in both run and light crew for my show. I know that both of you will go on to do amazing things in both high school and college next year. I would like to also thank Noah, Viv, Ryan and Becca for creating and keeping track of all of the costumes. Thank you guys for also taking the time to readjust the costumes and making sure that our visions came to life. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents for believing and supporting me through this whole production process. 

I am so happy that we got to do this experience in person. With COVID-19 in the world, it is so amazing that we get to put on an in-person show and have people come and see it. I can’t wait to see what the reaction to the production is and what the future holds for everyone involved in this production. I can’t wait for everyone to see It’s Cliche, The Play! Hope you all enjoy it!

Sincerly,

Payton Hall