By JENNIFER STULTZ

Staff writer

The lunch lady, the bus driver, the principal, even the students are all fair game for humorous fun in Hillsboro High School’s spring play, “The High Schoolers Guide to the Galaxy” by Bryan Starchman.

“We wanted to try something different this year,” said second-year director Bob Woelk. “We looked at dozens of options and ordered this one as a trial. The students liked it and really bought into it. It should be entertaining.”

Similar to Saturday Night Live on television, the high school galaxy show is a compilation of several short monologues and skits.

“It doesn’t really have a beginning, middle, and then a climax, but it all fits together for a nice show,” said art teacher and play co-director Dustin Dalke. “It is really a series of small plots; each one featuring a different group of students.”

Woelk said 16 students were covering up to 45 roles in the production, necessitating a lot of doubling and sometimes tripling of parts.

“Since we don’t have a lot of set changes and elaborate costumes, it all works out,” he said. “There are some specific looks we have to change for, but as it really is all about high school life, everyday clothing for the actors is OK.”

Kateland Litchfield, who plays the lunch lady, said she had never had such a major role in a school production before, though the senior has participated in many school drama productions.

“It’s just me up on the stage doing a monologue,” she said. “I have a lot of lines to memorize.”

Litchfield said she enjoyed the characterization of her part and as the lunch lady would be making fun of the cafeteria food suggestion box, commenting on the fact that she couldn’t remember ever serving real meat, and wondering what the color of some foods was supposed to be.

“The whole thing is just really entertaining for anyone who has ever been in high school,” Woelk said. “It’s not children’s theater, but it is very relatable play. As a teacher, there are lines that just really hit home.”

General admission tickets will be available at the door for the production, with performances scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 15 and 16 at the Hillsboro High School auditorium.