Students participating in Kaneland’s upcoming winter play discovered that it will be Quest! by following a scavenger hunt on Sept. 30 that took them through the building.
Students were able to attend an after-school scavenger hunt at 3:00 p.m. to discover the title of the 2025 winter play. There were clues hidden around the school, allowing students to explore and work together in order to find it. The final clue was found in the makeup room, where the students learned that the play was Quest! One Play to Rule Them All!
Auditions took place in the black box theatre a few weeks later. The shows are expected to be performed from Jan. 16-18.
“The play tells the story of epic heroes who have been cast under a spell, and the third-level heroes have to save them from it,” theatre director Christina Staker said. “The third-level heroes are quite hesitant to accept the call, and the play is their excuse for why they can’t go on the journey.”
Each scene shares the story of a different character in the play. The scenes were written by 10 different playwrights. The play takes place in an epic, medieval era and is under the comedic fantasy genre. The play includes a variety of different characters for students to audition for.
“The audience should expect a lot of fantastical characters, goofy interactions, witty responses and humorous scenarios,” Staker said.
Auditions took place after school on Oct. 14 and Oct. 16 at 3:00 p.m., and 26 students auditioned for the play. The candidates were judged by Staker and English teacher JP Quirk. The auditions involved a cold read, and students were asked to act out a portion of a scene. Each student got to act at least twice.
More experienced theatre students characterize the winter play as a stress-free environment, claiming that there is a lot less pressure performing in the winter play than the others.
“I would say that the winter play is definitely lower stakes than the fall play or the winter musical,” senior Bianca Garcia said. “There are a lot of new people and often a huge mix of grades. You connect with a lot of different people with a diverse cast, and I think that’s a more fun aspect of it.”
Within these carefree conditions, students were encouraged to perform confidently as they auditioned. The show requires the actors to feel comfortable acting out humorous and ludicrous roles.
“My goal as a senior is to get the biggest role I can,” senior Daniel Somerlot said. “I just want to be happy. Happiness to me is proving that I’m really good at acting.”
Some students had not heard of the play until it was announced. According to Stage Partners, a play publishing company, there have only been 37 productions of the play and 16 to come in the future.
“As much as I don’t really know this show, I’ll be happy with pretty much any role,” senior Iyvanka Ewane-Ewang said. “I just want to be a part of it.”
