Rehearsals begin for the CHS Theatre Company's Fall Production, Lord of the Flies Thursday, October 13, 2011 By Katie Hogge Lord of the Flies Poster - Trey Clarkson Advertising     You walk into the Barry Robinson Theatre Gallery. You can feel the anxiety in the air. Actors nervously fiddle with their scripts, awaiting the moment of judgment. For any average student here at Catholic High, it's just an average day. It's a Wednesday. A school day. But for these dedicated actors, today is anything but average. It's audition day.     Drama and Freshman English teacher Trey Clarkson, director of the CHS Theatre Company, ended up selecting only half the actors who auditioned for his theatrical adaptation of Lord of the Flies, holding a cast list of only 15 spots.      The play follows a journey through the story of children going savage on a deserted island, and includes various philosophical aspects introduced in William Golding's original story. Classically, the characters are depicted as British. But in Clarkson's adaptation? That's a no-no.      "We're not using accents," he said with a laugh, after many attempted to use them during auditions. "They were terrible."      Yet the director does say that he is interested in producing a play with Irish accents at some point in the future. "Just a heads up for all you prospects out there."     Over the course of the next month and a half, the actors in the production will work twenty-nine rehearsals, four dress rehearsals, and three shows.      "It's just like a sport after school," Clarkson said.      He did admit that he understanding the busy schedules many of his actors have to handle with schoolwork. "Fridays are off in September for my actors." But late October, he says that it'll be time to focus up and really get working on perfecting their art.     Since the production will be an adaptation of the original novel, the company will have a few obstacles to overcome. Quite a bit of controversial content, including how to handle "the beast" (a satanic image in the story), as well as decisions about language appropriateness, will need to be executed carefully in order to promise a BSCHS-appropriate production. The story also isn't completely linear, so Clarkson says that making the right choices about how to tell the story will definitely be one of the challenges the company encounters when producing this play.     Opening night is set for November 4th, with shows continuing on the 5th and 6th. Mr. Clarkson and his actors are extremely excited to present their production of Lord of the Flies to Bishop Sullivan CHS and other members of the community. "Come out and see us," he said with a smile. "It'll be fun. It will be awesome."

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