It’s about that time again for the Piper Theater Department! The spring show is underway and I’m here to give the inside scoop on what putting on one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays is all about.

Now when you’re a pirate, doing things the normal way is anything but normal, this even pertains to how the hopeful auditionees had to perform to get their roles. Instead of bringing a standard monologue and reciting it, students had to bring a song and recite the lyrics as if it were a monologue.

“It was a bit difficult to pick a song because I wanted to reflect the theme of the show,” said sophomore Trin Bales. “But at the same time, you want something without too much repetition.”

When putting on a show of this caliber, actors have to work extra hard on the pronunciation of the words as well as what they meant in that time period, as opposed to what it would mean in our terms today. The actors did a lot of hard work to prepare for this show.

“Well, I think it does take more in-depth analysis to be successful, you can’t properly act out something if you do not know what is going on properly, ” said Bales.

To better understand the hard work going into this show we needed to talk to the main man himself, Ramon Marks, who is playing Macbeth. Being a junior, Marks has had a few roles before his big lead debut as Macbeth.

“It’s a big role and there’s multiple lines it’s very different compared to what I’ve been in,” said Marks. “My sophomore year, I only had 5 lines to memorize, so it’s very different.”

With the show approaching quickly, it means a high-stress environment for the actors and stage crew alike. Marks was kind enough to advise any readers who may be dealing with the same things.

“Pressure-wise, I’ve done multiple performances, so it’s not all that big of a deal for me, but having a lead is a big deal for me. It’s not as intense because I’ve done theater before. My advice is to be calm, and although there’s a lot of moving parts, you’ve got an entire cast to support you and you’re not alone.”