Roosevelt High School’s annual tradition of Dramafest, the school’s short play festival held in the fall, will be returning for its 69th year this November. The festival showcases nine one-act plays performed over the course of a week, a culmination of almost two months of hard work. Each production is made possible by the efforts of Roosevelt students, including writing, costuming, tech, directing, and acting.
Plays are judged by professional actors and directors, with the top three shows being named “Best of Fest” and showcased during “The Fest Finale”, the closing ceremony for the event where awards are given to productions and individual students.
Dramafest Student Director Makelle Lindsey ’25 explained, “What’s cool is that it’s all student-written this year, so people who took the intermediate theater class the past two years, we got to choose from scripts that they wrote. “It’s a really awesome process to create this just with other students.”
Lindsey is co-directing the production “I Do.” Student Director Denny Bromley ’25 said, “We chose the play, and then we cast it ourselves, we block out all of the actions that the actors are taking. It can seem really daunting if you’re looking at it beforehand, but once you jump in, you realize that it’s just a lot of little parts that you have to put together, and once you do that,
you can really see this cohesive vision.”
Bromley is co-leader of the show “Writer’s Block.” “It’s a huge creative outlet because you get a bunch of words on paper and then you can turn that into your own world, turn that into your own story,” Brom-
ley continued. “It’s really fun to interpret it as a director and kind of make it your own.”
Aside from directing positions, acting positions also see changes under student guidance. Actor Linh Le ’26 of “The Sleuths and the Suspects”, noted, “Working with all students, I already know them pretty well, and it’s just nice to have your director also be someone that you can talk to and joke around with.”
An entirely student production also creates a great environment to meet new people. Student Spotlight Operator Isaac Hsi ’28 commented, “It’s pretty friendly and we all know what we’re capable of.”
Lindsey added, “It is really just an incredible way to meet people even if you’re not interested in theater. It’s a cretive environment, it’s fun, it’s a flexible commitment, I really just can’t recommend it enough, honestly.”
“Dramafest is built so that anyone can do it. It’s a great introduction to theater at Roosevelt… This is the perfect opportunity to dip your toes in; there’s levels for everybody,” Bromley said.
This year’s list of shows includes, “7 Minutes,” “How To Start a Civil War,” “I Do,” “Mr. Valentine Would Like to See You Now,” “Robert’s Playhouse,” “The Sleuth and the Suspects,” “Stories,” “Tyler & Taylor,” and “Writer’s Block.” These productions are a true manifestation of Roosevelt students’ passion for theater, self expression, and individuality. Check them out the week of November 18-21!
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