Valley View High School Needs No Props

Last week Valley View High School held a classic play production called “Our Town,” originally written by Thornton Wilder in 1938. The play ran from Wednesday through Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. each night. The play consisted of three different acts, with a seven-minute intermission between each act. “This is one of the most popular plays for any school to do... it really gets to the point that everyone needs to stop and take a breath, and pay attention to appreciate everything that they have in life because you never know when all that may disappear,” Valley View High School's theater teacher, Jeanine Lopez, said. The play is based on a society before television, cell phones, and technology as a whole. Its purpose is to showcase the enjoyment in life even without having the advanced technology available today. "We [the theater program] wanted it to be simple, so our students can still put on a great show without a big set and a lot of props," Lopez said. Not only did the Valley View theater students display their talents to community members and classmates. Judges from Area 2 of the California Educational Theater Association also attended to judge these talented Moreno Valley students. “We chose this one because we're competing in a competition. The play is being judged and we wanted to show how the students can take something that is pretty old and make it relevant to today as well as showcase their ability to act because there is not a lot of props or much of a set to work with,” Lopez explained. “That is the point of the play. It is very limited to props, and we did that on purpose so their talent must really shine through.” Lopez also explained that if they place first in the competition, the entire show will get to perform before 2,000 theater students from all around California in January. A second or third-place finish will qualify them to stage only a portion of their presentation there. For example, only Act I would be able to go as opposed to all three acts. Lopez added, “All of the students in this show are part of my advanced group… I believe they’ll do great. They’re all very talented and passionate... many of them are very serious about making acting their future profession.”