NORTH PLATTE, NE, April 10, 2025 – For the fast arriving spring show season, the hardworking students of North Platte High School’s Advanced Acting class will be putting on two shows during the final week in April. Rewrite: A Mystery will premiere April 25 and 26 and The Epic Quest of the Damsels in Distress will be run April 28.
Rewrite: A Mystery is an original production written by the students in Brittany McDaniel’s Advanced Acting class. This is McDaniel’s seventh original production at NPHS but the department’s first attempt at a murder mystery. When a group of high school students show up to their theatre to rehearse their show, they assume the worst that could happen is a missed line but everything takes a dark turn as the cast members are picked off, one by one. The question is who is doing it? This “play within a play” style thriller is filled with drama, mystery, and excitement. It runs April 25 and 26 at 7:00 pm at the North Platte High School Performing Arts Center.
The Epic Quest of Damsels in Distress is a children’s production that is funded through a REACH Grant with the North Platte Public Schools Foundation and will travel to all of the district elementary schools throughout the last week of April and first week of May. To kick off their tour, there will be a public performance for community members on April 28th at 7:00 pm in the North Platte High School Performing Arts Center. This comedically thrilling tale is full of dragons, whippersnappers, witches, gladiators, princes, and princesses so there is something in it for everyone. Junior Eban Spratt, who plays the brawny but not so smart character of Maximus says, “I love this show and I love to play this role because it helps enforce the message that women can stand up against anyone in their way. The girls in the show don’t let anyone stand in the way of them finding their destiny.”
Trying to produce two shows in the same class period has been “a bit stressful and chaotic at times”, says McDaniel, “but I love what I do and it is very evident that the students take pride in their work, which is just so amazing. Educational theatre is all about showing students the different paths they can take and then letting them explore all of the possibilities and we have definitely done that with these two shows!” Admission for both performances is just a free will donation at the door. They will also be selling wooden flowers as their spring fundraiser before and after the performances.
