The Great Pandemonium

by Pat Cook

"Now is the winter of our discontent," quotes high-school drama coach Jarred Nusthorp. "Shakespeare probably wrote that because he had to direct this play!" The play in question is Richard III, and now, the night before it opens, the cast and crew are having to run what is laughingly known as a tech rehearsal. Already on edge, Mr. Nusthorp has to contend with a militant assistant director, several missing actors who were grounded for TPing the principal's house and a prop lady who quits every chance she gets. Lights go up and down, actors fall off platforms and then the principal shows up, proclaiming, "Pretend I'm not here," only to interrupt every three minutes, wondering why they aren't doing Grease.

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1996