Drama kids are some of the most outgoing and playful students on campus.  Their days consist of crying, fighting, being fake, and laughing together (sometimes even for real!), and the Sahuaro theatre seniors are very sad to go.

Valerie Juarez, who has been in Sahuaro Theater for two years, says it is devastating to leave the program and the people. “I love Theater and the people here have taught me so much. But I’m also excited for the next chapter of my life.”  Their last play was Ghostlight originally written by Stephen Gregg, which is about a 16-year-old high school student named Garbiela, who gets accepted into a prestigious school called Doves Forge Academy. There is an old theater there that burned down years ago, but suddenly she hears voices coming from the old theater. The theater burned down in a tragic fire that killed two people and was all blamed on a very peppy girl named Fantine.  Valerie says that the rehearsals rarely ran smoothly but they had a lot of room for improvement. Though it was a rocky start, Valerie loved her role as Stauncher in her last play and said that even though it wasn’t that big of a role, she enjoyed playing her because she was entertaining to portray.

Essa Stoken, a four-year drama student and the lead of the play, said that getting the lead in her last ever play was all she wanted for so long. Though the play concept was a little odd to her at first, and it took her a minute to understand, she ended up liking the story and getting the opportunity to play it onstage. “Theatre helped me find out who I am by letting me be myself around my peers for the first time which took away my social anxiety and now I’m not afraid to be myself around people anymore.” Essa is deeply grateful for the opportunities that theatre made for her. She says that there is nothing she would rather do after high school than act on a stage. “You can’t take me away from the stage; it’s the most welcoming place.”

Jasmine Shryock, who played Fantine in the play, says that theater helped her get out of her shell, and grow into the person she wants to be. One of her favorite memories in Sahuaro theater was going to the thespian festival and getting to find a safe space with the people in Sahuaro theater. Jasmine has been in Sahuaro’s theater program for two years, but has been on a stage for her whole life. She plans to minor in theater at the University of Arizona.

Apollo Wischhusen, who has been in Sahuaro theater for all four years, saying that theater made him more confident socially, gave him an outlet for his stress, and allowed him to be himself with minimal judgment. “All of it. Making friends, finding your people, there’s so many inside jokes from the years that I would not be able to pick just one.” Favorite moments sometimes are just everyday things in the theater for Apollo – it has become a home for him. That being said, he absolutely plans on continuing theater at Pima Community College. “It’s not just a class or extracurricular, but an experience.”

Outsiders may not understand theater kids and perpetuate all these stereotypes about them, but theater is their outlet. It’s what makes them who they are. These students found a home in the Sahuaro theater, but now they have to move away. Though they are ready to move to the next chapter of their lives, turning the page can be very hard.