Live Theater Returns To Chelmsford High School

CHELMSFORD, MA— For the first time since last March, Chelmsford High School's Theatre Guild will be hosting two original productions this week.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, the high school Theatre Guild will be performing two live plays for a limited, masked audience at the CHS Carl J. Rondina Performing Arts Center, the school announced Monday.

"The King Is Dead," a 30-minute play written by high school senior Hannah Nettikadan, will be performed at 7 p.m. while the production of "The Last Person On Earth," written by senior Allison Dorsey and local playwright Eloise Hoffman, will take the stage soon after.

“At the first rehearsal we had in the [Performing Arts Center], I can’t describe the joy the kids had,” said Lauren Cochran, CHS theater director. “They just kept talking about how glad they were to be on stage.”

About the plays:

"The King Is Dead" is a comedy which follows a small medieval town and its attempt to save its kingdom from the chaos caused by the death of its king and the early stages of a deadly plague.

“The idea for 'The King Is Dead' comes from my love of medieval comedies,” said Nettikadan. “They’re severely underrated and when written well, are generally fantastic. Being back onstage has been absolutely amazing. For most of this year I haven’t been able to do any actual theater. It’s been great, and the cast and crew are all so lovely to work with.”

"The Last Person On Earth" depicts a group of strangers who believe they are the last remains of humankind, but receive a message urging them to search for others. The idea came to Dorsey in late February as indoor gathering restrictions showed signs of loosening. She, along with seniors Skyla Garrigan, who is stage manager, and Pierce Magnant, who is a cast member, presented the idea to Cochran along with a plan for safe viewing.

“We thought this would be a great way of bringing [live theater] back together and to do it safely,” Dorsey said. “I wrote the show in about a week and a half and Ms. Hoffman wrote a version and this is what we’ve come up with. It’s been over the last three weeks that it’s come together.”

While live theater has been absent since March 2020, Cochran and CHS Theatre Guild members spent most of the school year working on a feature length film, "The Mystery at Pendleton Manor," which is currently in post-production. An outdoor viewing of the film is expected to take place in mid-June.

Tickets for the plays this week are $10 per person, available at the school's main office.

Masks must be worn at all times during the productions.