This year’s fall play was a success in many aspects! The nights of November 7th and 8th converted our campus from its vibrant fall foliage to a cozy winter wonderland with many different Christmas shows as our students put on Lucy Williams’s “Christmas Shorts.”
The play contains many different Christmas scenes, not necessarily following a specific plot, instead featuring unique characters from different stories. As the curtains were drawn and lights illuminated our actors, Mrs. Claus, played by senior Addy Franklin, was talking with Santa, played by Aster Fernandes, ‘28.
Because of the untraditional layout of this play, our theater students had the opportunity to play more than one role. Not only was Franklin Mrs. Claus, she also played the reindeer, the voice of Santa during the movie scene, and the top Christmas entrepreneur himself, Crazy Hank. For those who missed this unforgettable performance, Crazy Hank is impassioned about selling Christmas trees, which is clearly evident through his contagious and loud enthusiasm for the holiday season. Acting in the fall play allowed Franklin to explore her future career goals. “I hope to be able to making acting into a career and do voice acting,” she said. “Even though it was a very silly show, I think I was able to have moments where I was serious, and I got to do voice acting.” Franklin’s experience truly captures the objective of our theatre department—or, really, our school in general. It is a place to focus on your goals for the future, while having fun in the present.
November is a month of transition; while students hold onto the final moments of autumn, anticipation arises around us all as winter holidays approach. So, staging a Christmas play in early November was bound to spark a gentle debate: when is the “right” time to start celebrating Christmas? “That’s a hard question, because I liked it, I just wish the date was a little closer to Christmas,” said Mya Beisel, 27, who played multiple roles in the play. “But, I did like being able to be an elf, and a reindeer, it was really fun.” Beisel’s house has been decorated for Christmas “since the beginning of October,” however she believes that an “acceptable time to begin celebrating is mid-November.” No matter when you start celebrating, the holiday spirit lives in us year around, so this play was a delightful way to share that spirit with the community.
Not only was the theme of this play different than usual, so were the participants. With the 2025-2026 school year being Grier’s first year introducing the 5th and 6th grade program, the theatre program is seeing a new range in ages amongst participants. Along with the typical participation of our 7th-12th graders, three fifth and sixth graders were in this year’s play. The girls rapped as Christmas elves, fought with snowmen, and put on a heartwarmingly-silly “Hey Mom” monologue, something they said felt just like talking to their parents in real life.
All three lower-grade girls had experience acting prior to the play, Abby Smith ‘32 performed in the local Mishler theatre; Seryne Zahrouni ‘32 did musical theatre at Grier Summer; and Maggie Peachey ‘33 has been in three of Grier’s theatre performances! Due to her experience in Grier’s theatre program, Peachey said she was able to help the newcomers. “I helped them to cross backstage in the dance building, and I also helped them figure out how to not rush their lines,” said Peachey. For the girls, the play was more than a performance, it was a chance to bond, build confidence in their acting skills, and form long lasting friendships.
In alignment with the layout of the play, a series of short scenes, the lower-grade students shared a few short insights on how acting relates to their day-to-day lives. Smith, cheerleader for the Grier cheer team, and competitive cheerleader at home, shared similarities between cheering and acting. “When you’re acting, you have to memorize the lines, and for cheering you have to memorize the cheers,” said Smith. Smith’s favorite role in the fall play was the girl in the movie trailer because she wore her own soft pjs.
Seryne Zahrouni’s outgoing personality was evident on stage, and she shared a bit about how she lets her authentic personality shine on stage. “I’m not acting,” said Zahrouni. “I am a crazy person, so whenever I act, I just put my craziness in a jar, and when it’s time for my scene I take the jar, and I eat it.” Zahrouni’s favorite role was between being a reindeer, or a “traumatized tree-helper” to Crazy Hank.
To tie it all together, Maggie Peachey highlighted the Christmas Spirit at Grier during the weekend of the play. “Backstage we had peppermint candy canes to eat,” she said. “There was the Christmas tree, and after the show it snowed!” Peachey’s favorite role was being a reindeer and a rapper, though she would have loved to have been an ice dancer as well.
The two performances of the play were lovely and definitely brought the holiday cheer to Grier’s campus. Congratulations to everyone involved. To all of Grier’s actors–keep being yourself and letting your confidence shine on stage!
