AITE’s Drama Club has started once again. Chloe Leferman, a senior at AITE, is the current president of the club and her goal is to keep the club afloat even after she graduates. The club is currently working on performing Zero Hours, which will be the first play they have ever done after three attempts of starting the club. 

The current plan for the club is to perform at least two shows and organize a Stamford District High School Talent Competition. However, AITE’s Drama Club is not as intense as Westhill’s or Stamford High’s Drama Clubs. “I wanted to give people a space to express themselves and to give students who had an abundance of creativity more opportunities to make something cool that many people could see,” said Leferman. With their dedication and passion for acting, club members hope to fulfill Leferman’s dream of making sure the club runs well and can keep up with the shows. 

The current play that the Drama Club is working on, Zero Hours, was originally a one-man play written and performed by Jim Brochu. Leferman decided that this would be a good start for the new members as it does not require a lot of equipment and acting experience. The play was also made into a podcast by Long Story Short Productions. Leferman was able to obtain approval from the creators to use it as the basis for this show. The podcast version of Zero Hours has a total of eight episodes, which are each different stories that take place shortly before the end of the world. However, the Drama Club will only be performing two of the episodes this year, Bitters and What Happens When The Beat Drops.

Bitters takes place in 1920, right as Prohibition goes into effect. Two nearly unemployed bartenders in New York will have their friendship tested. Sophomore Isabella Vasquez plays one of the bartenders. “I feel excited to be a part of this. I play a guy named Eddie Burke who is in the 1920s during Prohibition. This is my first main role. I have done a couple of things in the theater world but not much. Overall, I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to do this,” said Vazquez. Being a part of the play may help many of the students take their minds off of being stressed about their academics and COVID-19. The Drama Club can serve as an emotional outlet for students to express themselves.

What Happens When The Beat Drops takes place in Palo Alto, California. A negotiator needs to stop a young man from attempting to change the world into his ideal image of perfection. As it is a completely different story from Bitters, other students will get a chance to audition and possibly discover a passion for acting which they never knew they had. Since the Drama Club is small, members will have a better chance of getting to know one another and bond over their interests.