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Moffat County High School drama students are in the final throes of rehearsal for the play, "Our Town." The 22-member cast will toss their scripts aside next week as they move into final dress rehearsal before opening night on Dec. 7.

"I think it's going pretty good, but I'm very optimistic," said stage manager Annette Hawks, a freshman.

John Splitt, lighting manager, played with different spot angles and soft effects while the actors paced through their lines on stage.

"Wait, listen up." Rusty DeLucia, director, cut into the rehearsal with some stage direction and support. "You've picked a tough show here, guys," she said. "No glitzy costumes, very few props, and you have the potential to make this a great show."

DeLucia, a theater teacher at Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School in Steamboat Springs, is directing the play because MCHS is currently without a drama coach. "I'm asking a lot of them," she said. "They're doing triple-time because we don't have anyone in charge of costumes or stage changes. They're doing it all. Under the circumstances, they're doing a great job with only two weeks to go to opening night."

"Our Town," by Thornton Wilder, is an American classic, expressing the warmth and humor of human existence. From the time of its first performance in 1938, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play has been regarded as one of the best representations of life in America, and for decades has been a landmark of theatrical craftsmanship.

According to DeLucia, "Our Town," is unusual and different. "There are very few props and no scenery basically it's a very simple play to do technically. It relies solely on acting."

And that's right up senior Ben Koucherick's alley. "I love to act," he said. A seasoned performer, he plays the role of Dr. Gibbs in the performance. "At the beginning, it was tough to get started but now we're starting to get it together," he said.

Set in 1901 in Grover's Corners, N.H., "Our Town" depicts pathos set against a background of centuries of time, social history, and religious ideas. As the Stage Manager, played by Clayton Richards, says in one of his lines: "This is the way we were in our growing-up and in our marrying and in our doctoring and in our living and in our dying."

"Our Town" is not just about Emily and George, two people in love, or a small New England town a hundred years ago. The play is about what we, and Thornton Wilder, thought America and Americans were. The characters in "Our Town" tell what they knew of life its pain and hope, simplicity and truth. Through their eyes we are mirrored.

Admission is free for students with activity cards. Tickets will be on sale at the door on opening night.