“There is something rotten in the state of Denmark,” and it may be the cheese. Well, at least according to the drama class’ latest play, Omelette: Chef of Denmark, a comedy combining elements from the classic works of MacBeth and Hamlet which were performed on January 23, 24, and 25

“I chose this play because I always look for comedies, and this is a comedy making fun of William Shakespeare, Hamlet, and Macbeth, said director Mr. Bob Bayless, who also teaches the drama course. “With the class, it fits perfectly – there are 15 boys in the class and we enlisted the [musical theatre class] to come in also, so that’s why [we chose this play] –  comedy mainly.”

Let me set the scene: It’s 1599, and legendary scribe William Shakespeare is trying to decide what his next play should be about. There are a group of people from Scotland, representing MacBeth, and there are a group of people from Denmark, representing Hamlet, who compete against each other to be the subject of Shakespeare’s newest play.

“We chose a play with more than twenty-five parts, but we have only fifteen [students] in the drama class,” said Bayless. All of those students, by the way, are seventh and eighth-grade boys. Even with the addition of the musical theater students, it was necessary for some actors or actresses to have multiple roles. One such actor was eighth grader Alex Bories, who played both the narrator and MacGregor.

“I felt pressured when I was performing because I had a lot of quick changes during my time on stage where it would be scene after scene,” he said.

With a full academic load and not much time to rehearse, the students were also challenged with memorizing their lines and their blocking before the performances..“The hardest part of the play was memorizing my lines,” said seventh-grader Atticus Fasnakis-Nosal, who played Polonius. “I had thirty-five lines, and so it was a lot, but after you know that, all you have to do is the acting.”

Although the play was tough on the actors, it was a hit with the audience.

“What I enjoyed most was that I could sit through the whole play and watch the whole thing,” said seventh-grader Hannah Beam. “Normally the plays are very good, like this year, and I am very excited for next year.”

“The actors and actresses worked hard and they were excellent,” added fellow seventh-grader Claire Dinh.