STUDENT-DIRECTED PLAYS HIT JHS STAGE NOV. 9-10

Two one-act plays dealing with young love and romance will hit the Jackson High School stage Nov. 9-10.

The student-directed plays, "Why I am a Bachelor," and "Punch and Duty," will be performed at the revamped JHS auditorium at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 9 and 4 p.m., Nov. 10. Both are comedies and both feature some stage veterans from "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream" and other past JHS productions."Why I am a Bachelor" is being directed by Andy Conklin. The play featured Tim Nicolai as a traveling lecturer, speaking on the ills of married live -- which he has thus far managed to escape.

The hapless couple he uses as an example of all that can (and probably will) go wrong in a marriage are Algernon (Matt Schaefer) and Henrietta (Autumn Clardy). The skit also features Amanda Lowes as Henrietta's mother, Tiffany McElreath as Aunt Emma and Jennifer Hotop as Ida May.

Jeni Zinner will direct "Punch and Duty," a story of two dateless girls who get stuck manning the punch stand at a high school Homecoming dance.

The two girls, Liz (Katie Fink) and Val (Mary Bono) bemoan their fate, as the punch is repeatedly spiked and happy couples dance the night away. Later they face the school loser Robert (Zach Rice).The rest of the cast includes David (Blake Burres), Kirsten (Meredith Lape), Shorty (A.J. Biri), Mrs. Roswell, (Lydia Blades) and dancing couples Lucas Walker, Cindy Cobb, Chris Shank, Molly Woeltje, Brett Price, Katie Johnson, Joe Gibbs and Tara Herbst.

Conklin and Zinner chose their own casts and crew members and have been working with their people themselves. Tracy Fisher, Drama Club sponsor, viewed a complete run-through of both skits for the first time Wednesday."So far, I'd say things are looking pretty good," Fisher said, following Wednesday's run-through. "They're shaping up pretty well."This is the first JHS drama production in the historic auditorium since its renovation this year.