Hot Topic, a play filled with short scenes written and directed by students, is triannual, meaning every third class gets to both watch and participate in the show twice during their high school experience. This year, that lucky class was the seniors of 2013: my grade. As one who has seen the show twice now, there were a few things I noticed and enjoyed about this year’s version, Hot Topic: #thenewgeneration.

I couldn’t remember a whole lot about Hot Topic from 3 years ago, apart from a few specific scenes and the fact that I absolutely loved it. This year’s production also brought in the expected laughs and more emotional feelings than I had before.

In addition to the new scenes created by students every time the play is put on, the theatre department always keeps a couple of scenes from the last production. Of these, I remembered 3 specific ones that had made a lasting impact, mainly for the cast; Kensey Berry as the school nurse, Josh Fisher as one of the three little pigs, and Kyle Karnuta as “Ugly Louise”.

The new cast did an undeniably amazing job replacing these roles, but they still felt like replacements, simply because I had originally seen the play with the first cast. Kensey had been hilarious as the nurse, Josh’s little pig voice had me laughing the entire scene, and Kyle was both funny and emotionally impacting. The new characters had all of these qualities, it just felt weird to me to replace the people I felt belonged in these roles. I guess that’s just a quirk of repeating a show.

However, repeating scenes were not necessarily a bad thing. I had a vague memory of both the drug-free cheer, parents using reverse psychology, and the gossip foot-stomping cotangent. The drug-free cheer was even more hilarious than I remembered from the first time, with each actor and actress overdoing their roles in a way that made the entire audience crack up. Seniors Lauren Sanders and Nathan Thorley did a fantastic job and were hysterical in their roles as the parents of freshman Jak Barth, and by adding social media into the skit about gossip, the clapping and foot-stomping cotangent from the last show was even more impacting.

The new, student-written scenes were each entertaining and emotionally lasting in their own way. By adding new portions to the show, the cast was able to touch on issues that relate to the teens of today. This year’s version of Hot Topic had an widely ranged amount of issues covered for only an hour and 15-minute show, adding texting and driving, relationships, and even being grateful for opportunities.

One particular scene that stuck out to me the most was one in which cast members, wearing black shirts and saying nothing, held up posters with their own insecurities, written in their own handwriting. The other half of the cast then came out holding posters with things that people loved about the insecure person to counter all of the insecurities. It was incredibly well done and is certainly one that won’t be forgotten.

From old scenes to new, Hot Topic: #thenewgeneration has certainly made an impact on both those involved and those who had the privilege to watch. Speaking as someone who has seen the production twice now, I both applaud the cast this year and look forward to seeing what new scenes and remakes will bring the next time Hot Topic makes and appearance.