Dramatic voices, slamming doors, bubbling laughter, and the clanking of equipment echo off the empty walls, making it exceedingly difficult to focus in the replacement theatre room. Stress is running high in the small space, but the show must go on.

Due to the auditorium renovations, the theatre department has relocated and will be taking their upcoming show, Peter and the Starcatcher, on tour to the elementary schools in late September.

“They are putting new carpet in [the new auditorium], they’re adding vestibules, they are changing up the dressing room situation, the storage for the piano hutch is being relocated across the hallway, and they’re expanding the scene shop,” theatre director Jessica Brewster said. “In addition to that they’re building on a black box theater, which is really exciting, with offices for the theater teachers and a really small library.”

The upcoming play was carefully selected in order to allow the theatre department to work around the construction challenges.

“[Peter and the Starcatcher] largely imagination-based,” Brewster said. “It really focuses on the actors and the set kind of evolves through actor invention.”

The previous orchestra room, F105, has been repurposed by the district as a substitute rehearsal space.

“It’s a big, open space where we can clear all the tables and it doubles as our build space, classroom space, and rehearsal space right now,” Brewster said. “It’s a little tight, but we’re definitely making it work.”

The changes have caused extra difficulty for the tech crew, as they cannot use their equipment and build sets.

“We’re all stuck in the room together,” senior Cory Griffin said. “We can’t put out our tools and start building things, because the actors need the space to practice in. We’re kind of at a standstill on what we can do.”

Close quarters have also caused tension during rehearsals.

“There is a lot of conflict,” senior Ryan Allen said. “We’re used to having the entire auditorium to ourselves during rehearsals, and now we have this space that is very echoey, and it makes it very difficult for everyone to focus. Also we’re going to each of the middle schools and measure each stage, and we’re going to tape it out on the floor. That way we can pretend we’re on the stage.”

Despite the added stress, the theatre classes have been willing to work with the changes.

“We’re going to work with what we have because we’re really, really grateful for the construction that’s going on and the black box that’s being added,” Allen said. “We’re all working as actors and techs to make this show happen.”