By Ada Kessler

Many new and exciting things are coming with McCaskey’s 2024 fall play, Anne of the Thousand Days. The fall play is always a great experience for actors and viewers alike, but there are a few extra special things about the fall play this year. 

For the first time ever, our fall play will be part of the Apollo Awards! The Hershey Theatre Apollo Awards, more commonly referred to as Apollo Awards, were created in 2008. These awards occur every year for fall plays and winter musicals in Pennsylvania high schools that are within 30 miles of Hershey, Pennsylvania. 

These awards were created to “recognize outstanding achievement by local high school students in their musical and play productions,” according to Hershey Theatre. This year, our fall play will be in the running for six awards: Best Overall Play, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Featured Performer. Judges come to the productions of every participating high school and confer afterwards before deciding on a winner for each category. Good luck to everyone nominated!

Another very special thing about this year’s play is that there is a brand new director, Alex McMorrow. You may know Mr. McMorrow as one of the Cosmetology teachers, but this year he’s taken on a new role. He has been the hair and makeup designer for the fall plays before, but this is his first year as director after the previous director resigned. 

Despite being new to the position, Mr. McMorrow is very familiar with theater. When asked about his introduction to theater, Mr. McMorrow stated, “I’ve been a theater person my entire life.” He saw his first play at just four years old when his grandma took him to see none other than Anne of the Thousand Days. From that day on, he grew to love all aspects of theater because of his grandma—now, he sees this as a way of giving back to her.

This year’s play is all about Anne Boleyn, one of the six wives of the infamous Henry the Eighth. She is most known for being the first former Queen of England to be executed. In recent years, her figure has been popularized, mostly due to the musical Six which follows Henry the Eighth’s six wives. People loved the mystery of Anne Boleyn, especially given that there is no true record of what she looked like.

Anne of a Thousand Days follows the story of Henry VIII (Titus Newswanger) and Anne Boleyn (Mia Rock), played against the well-known historical background of the court of Henry. A grand drama of love, deceit, and murder, Anne of the Thousand Days brings these most famous of Tudor characters to vivid life. According to Mr. Mcmorrow, this play is an “emotional rollercoaster” that pays homage to a historical figure of female empowerment. 

The play is full of shocking twists and turns, even for those who know how Anne Boleyn’s story ends— and even more surprising for those unfamiliar with it. These exciting moments are brought to life by our incredible actors. Male lead Titus Newswanger says he is “really excited for people to see the amount of emotions the actors portray on stage. From heartbroken, to furious, to full of joy, we put everything we have on stage for our audiences.”

There are four dates to see the fall play. There are three night time shows: Thursday, November 21st, Friday, November 22nd, and Saturday, November 23rd at 7pm. There is one early afternoon show on Sunday, November 24th at 2pm. The play will be in the East auditorium this year as the JP auditorium is still being renovated. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for community members, and they can be bought here. Our actors and crew have put immense effort into creating this thrilling play, so don’t miss it!