On April 26 and 27, The Ugly Duckling and The Good Doctor were performed by Hudson High School’s festival committee and the students of Advanced Theatre Studies.

The Ugly Duckling was originally written by A. A. Milne and was directed by Jen Fin for HHS’ Festival group. The Good Doctor was originally based on the writings of Anton Chekhov and adapted into a play by Neil Simon. The production was directed by Alex Mcdonald, a junior at HHS.

The first play shown was The Ugly Duckling. It was beautifully pleasing to the eye with its spectacular set depicting a castle and colorful costumes all around. Some costumes were handmade, such as Julia Terrasalomao’s by junior Ben Carme.

“I really enjoyed helping make the costumes and seeing everything come together. It was a great experience to be a part of,” Carme said.

The play was about 45 minutes long and had everyone in the audience interested every moment, not just from the plot, but because of the detailed hand-painted flats and carefully crafted costumes.

It was memorable for not only the audience but the cast as well.

“I really enjoyed the experience. I’ll remember it forever,” junior Leah Packard said. 

After The Ugly Duckling, a short intermission was held, and then The Good Doctor was performed by the Advanced Theatre Studies (ATS) students.

The story consisted of a writer struggling with his career while writing short stories to entertain the audience. The whole play was constructed in Mrs. McKenzie’s ATS class.

 Each student had a different role to fulfill, such as senior Patrick Fortuna, who played three parts and was assigned to design and produce the set.

“There was definitely a little trouble with some furniture pieces and it was a bit complicated trying to figure out the set changes, but in the end, it was all worth it,” Fortuna explained.

McDonald mimicked these opinions as she reminisced.

“I had a lot of fun working on it, and I’m really proud of how it came out.”