Two Dist. 214 to be part of state theater festival
Actress Celine Dirkes of Wheeling High School and assistant stage manager Yasmin Mitchell of Elk Grove High School have been chosen to participate in the 39th annual All-State Production, “The Grapes of Wrath.”
The show will be performed at the Illinois State High School Theatre Festival Jan. 9-11, 2014. The play, based on the John Steinbeck novel, follows the Joad family’s escape from the 1930s Dust Bowl as they trek west to California in search of jobs, land and opportunities.
Dirkes landed the role of Ma Joad, the family matriarch, after several auditions in June. Although she participated in musicals in middle school, it wasn’t until her freshman year when she joined “Fusion,” a student-driven interdisciplinary show, that she became seriously interested in theater. She has held many roles in school musicals and plays and attended her first All-State Theater Production as a sophomore and again last year.
“Both productions have touched me profoundly,” Dirkes said. “It is a great honor to be found worthy of participating in something so powerful.”
A four-year E.G.H.S. theater member, Mitchell will be the assistant stage manager and student production manager for the All-State Production. She will serve as the liaison between actors, tech crews, designers and directors. This is her second consecutive year serving on the technical crew.
“I am fully aware of what is expected of me as part of this fantastic company of cast and crew,” Mitchell says. “I am ecstatic to be selected to participate in ‘Grapes of Wrath.’ I know what an amazing opportunity it is to work at such a professional level, so I feel very fortunate to be part of All-State once again.”
The Illinois State High School Theatre Festival is the largest and oldest noncompetitive high school theater festival in the world. The three-day fest takes place annually, and more than 4,000 students, teachers, and volunteers from across the state come together to put on over 25 different high school productions and over 150 workshops.