As a boy in middle school I remember reading and loving the novel Lord of the Flies. Seeing another live and impressive performance from fellow Prep brothers in their recent winter drama has brought back my affection towards this captivating story. The story line follows a group of young children stranded on a lone island and their struggle to maintain sanity, relationships, and health. The play was an action-packed and thrilling adventure that delved into psychological distress. Several factors were evident in the entire cast’s dedication to this play. With a limited size stage, the props and lighting were creatively organized to create the desired eerie setting throughout the play. Each actor fully embodied their role through emotion and behavior while remaining in character regardless of audience reactions.

When speaking with cast member Nicholas Ramirez ‘18 (Jack Merridew), he humbly acknowledged the effort of his fellow members and their “tremendous effort to be at all the rehearsals,” stating that their commitment to the show was the primary factor in its success. He gratefully stated, “Lucky for us, we had a group of dedicated, hard-working guys.” His statement was accurate as their resolute determination for this performance was evident throughout. The passion involved in the acting brought the story to life, as the audience felt engaged and devoted to the characters and their plight throughout. When asked about the endeavor to portray complex characters on stage, Nick admitted the difficulty of getting into the role at first. “Getting into the mindset of a character that deep and that dark could get really challenging sometimes.” But the immense dedication brought the actors to an impressive level where it became “very hard getting out of the character’s mindset when rehearsal was finished.” As he makes known, their diligence in character depiction was strong enough to carry over into their own lives.

Entering the performance I was anticipating a captivating play, and, as expected, I was not disappointed. As their newest play is in the works, the Prep community has yet another undoubtedly skillful performance to wait for.