I know most theatre critics are hesitant to critique youth or high school theatre. I get it can be tough to know what kind of feedback to give to young performers but it’s also important to encourage and support students when we have the opportunity to do so. Recently I saw a production of Clue: High School Edition at American Preparatory Academy: Draper 3 campus and it was a fun reminder of the many people who are still doing things right for our young people.

I’ve said it before but I think it’s a real shame when high school productions rely too much on visual effects and projections. This robs the students of the opportunity to make their sets, props, costumes and all the other aspects of the production. What I loved at Draper 3 is they are empowering the students to participate in all of these areas. They even make sure to point out in the program “costumes, set and props designed and built by D3 theatre production classes” This is so important because how does a student know if they like or excel at something if they never get a chance to try? I also love the innovative nature of the set they built for Clue with rolling platforms that allows rooms to roll on and off of the stage; thereby creating more rooms than the small black box theatre would normally allow.

I saw the Dagger version of the cast and all the teens did a great job hamming it up for the roles. I particularly enjoyed Christopher Jorgensen as Wadsworth and Savannah Anderson as Colonel Mustard. The production is directed with care by Erik McGinnis who has managed to get the most of out of each of his students,

Unfortunately this production of Clue has finished its run but I’m excited to be aware of Draper 3, and I hope to come back for their next performance- The Secret Garden in the spring

Clue is written by Sandy Rustin based on the 1985 film and the Hasbro board game.

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