The drama department at SIS hosted an audio-only play “Mythical Creatures and How to Approach them” starring Jane Kim (12) as Harmony Ginger, Justin Seo (12) as Peter Wisechair, and Alma Tyvand (9) as Sal A Mandefin. The play is about Harmony and Peter’s travels abroad to study mythical creatures with Professor Mandefin. In order to pass their class, Harmony and Peter must overcome their fear of exotic creatures, such as dancing hippogriffs and sassy unicorns. 

“I focused on my tone and delivery during the play as it was an audio-only play,” Justin said. “I tried to express my character as a bit indifferent and foolish. However, as the play progresses, Peter gains more confidence and develops into a more complex character through his journey, which I tried to express through the change in diction.”

Though performing in an audio-only play was a new experience for most actors, they still delivered strong acting and emotion. Furthermore, since the play included imaginary creatures, the actors had to make up fantasy sounds using their own creativity. 

“I loved adapting to the new challenge of voice acting,” Justin said. “It was a truly fascinating and new experience to try delivering my character’s voices through just my voice.”

The new style of play also brought changes for crew members. The crew featured Jennah Yoo (11) as the production manager, Katie Kim (11) in charge of costumes, and Jaehyun Lee (12) as the manager for posters and playbills. Jennah worked on editing voice recordings, including sound effects and music when necessary.

“It was definitely a foreign experience, as this was my first year of helping the management of an audio play,” Jennah said. “Still, I am looking forward to returning to the stage. The best part of a play is to tangibly perform it in front of an audience, so I am hoping to have physical rehearsals next year to showcase my acting.”