This Spring, "The Game’s Afoot’" on the YISS Stage

ITS students spent many months preparing for this year’s spring production, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, on April 13-15. The process began with script selection when ITS president Rhea Remesh and the other officers, vice-president Siyeon Lee, secretary Tiffany Kang, and treasurer Idris Al-Wazani, presented choices to ITS members for perusal and voting. Then, the most popular choices were presented to the high school administration by the troupe director, Ms. Terry. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes won the vote and approval, and the game was on! Senior thespian, and long-time theatre advocate, Helen Park stepped into the role of Student Director and spent many hours preparing for auditions and rehearsals alongside the faculty mentors. 

Actors spent their time doing character studies, improvising, blocking scenes, rehearsing lines, and learning techniques under the tutelage of the student director, Ms. Nichols (choir director), and Ms. Nelson (middle school drama teacher). In this production, the script by Jon Jory had the interesting twist of casting three different Sherlocks and Watsons throughout the play. Each case sparked the arrival of a new Sherlock and new Watson as the passing of the deerstalker cap between actors, transitions of lights, and sound effects signaled each new case. Many students played multiple roles and developed their characters’ traits, movements, and accents during rehearsals to add to the interest of each new case.

On the technical side, student managers gathered crews interested in tech, stage, costuming, and hair/makeup for an initial brainstorming meeting about the show. Throughout the three months leading up to the opening night, crews researched the time period of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and also scoured the script for details related to props, lighting, sound effects, costume details, and scene transitions. Stage crew under the management of Isabel Lima and Crew Manager Eugene Kang, created props like telegrams, letters, newspapers, and envelopes appropriate to the era, even staining the pages with coffee for an interesting effect. The tech and stage crews collaborated together to add the element of a fog machine to this show. Under the direction of faculty mentor Mr. Ludwig and Student Manager Rhea Remesh, light and sound students cued many interesting details like the sparkling lights of the ‘blue carbuncle.’

Led by student manager, Luna Lee, set design students spent many hours brainstorming ideas for a mysterious “crime” board and decided to hang these boards and window panes from the fly bar on stage to create an abstract version of the famous 221B Baker Street flat. 

Costume manager, Annis Choi drew illustrations and led her team to research the numerous adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories. They also discussed the vision and character backgrounds with the student director to create an interesting timeline of costumes that moved through the eras of the Sherlock Holmes cases. Each crew combined their skills to create a tale of intrigue for the audience.

We hope you enjoyed our adaptation of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and will join us again next season!