On Friday, November 6th, Mrs. Baugher and Mr. Gallagher stood in the front of the auditorium to welcome all to the annual Midlo Theatre Night, an opportunity for theatre students to show off what they have done in class to their family and friends. The theatre was filled with bone chilling screams and laughter throughout the night; the actors did not dissapoint.

Mrs. Baugher introduced the first performance, The Little Match Girl, a short story written by Hans Christian Andersen and then adapted into a play, and beautifully directed for the Midlo stage by Cydney Griffin. During this play, devastation is demonstrated alongside happiness and relief, as a poor young girl, played by Coleen Maloney, desperately looks for warmth on the side of the road, only to face disappointment each time. Maloney  put on a superb performance and nuzzled herself into the audience’s hearts, as they sympathized with the the little girl as she fought against the cold winter. The Little Match Girl is a wonderful story that can be looked at from either a grim perspective or a happy one.

After the heartwarming story of The Little Match Girl, the audience  filled with joy and laughter as Grace York, a student-director,  put on the play Thumbelina. Thumbelina, played by  Leah Besser, a thumb-sized little girl, who eagerly tries to find her way in a world much larger than she. Along her quest, she faces harassment to be potentially married to multiple despicable creatures she meets on her way. The audience erupted in laughter at the hideous facial expressions and energetic hopping of Noah Doorman, the potential toad groom. Thumbelina continued to bringing the audience alongside on her adventure to find her husband, who she impatiently waits to discover. Leah Besser convinced the audience greatly of her disgust and devastation each time she faced a new suitor, until the moment she finally she found her true love. In that moment, she was surrounded by large flowers, which made it seem as if she was disappearing into the flowers with her new found love.

Switching the mood to an eerie and bone chilling atmosphere, theatre students shared a set called, When Darkness Falls. With darkness as their main prop, their performances brought goosebumps to the skin of the audience. Ear piercing screams of terror and twisted laughter filled the auditorium. Audience members all around covered their eyes so they wouldn’t have to see the images of pure horror. With darkness covering most of the set, shadows danced around the actors, causing even more fear. A particularly disturbing performance was put on by Derik Jacobsen, Daisy Bedser, Julia Dimartino, and Chris Poindexter. The voices inside Daisy Bedser’s character’s had led her to go insane. As the voices got louder and louder, villainous laughter filled the audience as well, leaving the audience scared in their seats.

After the night of riveting performances, the long awaited fall play preview arrived. Mrs. Baugher and the student-director Andrew Bartee explained to the crowd that they were still in ¨rehearsal mode,¨ but the actors did not disappoint. Senior John Mora played an ogre, reading twisted fairy tales and boldly brought them to life. Peyton Strange playing the main role of Heidi, meshed well with her fellow actor John Mora, even though it was her first play at Midlothian. Together, they brought the stories to life, eventually leaving the audience on the edges of their seats by the end of the preview. The parts of the set that were completed helped add to the magic of the story. Midlo Theatre Night is a proud tradition at Midlothian and thanks to the hard work of Mrs. Baugher and Mr. Gallagher, the evening proved a huge success.