FITCHBURG — The high school drama crew are ready to break a leg and take the stage for two performances you won’t want to miss.
Fitchburg High School Drama Club members Jose Barreto and Leah Witzgall are behind “Gone But Not Forgotten,” an original play they wrote and directed as the club’s entry for the 95th annual Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild High School Festival.
They and their production team are thrilled to bring the show back to their home base on March 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door and online by visiting https://tinyurl.com/5ddz2z96.
Although they weren’t one of the top three schools that moved on from the preliminary round of the METG competition on Feb. 28 to the semi-finals, they shined bright in the one act play category against six other schools. So much so that cast members Gabbi DeMar, who plays Death in “Gone But Not Forgotten,” and Monica Padilla as the Singing Guitar Girl both took home acting excellence awards.
The play is described as a haunting, fast-paced original drama that confronts grief, memory, and the violence that ripples outward when a young life is taken too soon.
FHS English teacher Garrett Zecker said the production showcases all the great things the drama club is doing this spring and said the talented cast and crew “are putting a lot of work into this original piece.”
“I am very proud of this completely original play the students built from the ground up,” the drama club faculty advisor expressed. “We had some incredible competition at Andover High School and despite us not moving to the semifinal round, everyone learned a lot and made some great connections with the other schools we competed against.”
The FHS Drama Club has been performing since 1830. While Zecker hasn’t been around the school quite that long, he has been teaching there for 20 years and the drama club faculty advisor for five of those years. Since taking on that advisory role he has helped with the plays they do in the fall and the musicals they do each spring.
Being involved with the drama club is full circle for the longtime educator who participated in the METG competition all four years as a student at Weymouth High School and was part of the drama team there who made it to the state finals his senior year.
Seeing the FHS students live out their theatrical dreams means a lot to Zecker and he said everyone is “really excited to see their final two performances” of “Gone But Not Forgotten.”