The Comedy by Mark Twain is very much Alive

The comedy by Mark Twain is playing on November 19 and 20 starting at 7:30 in the Penn Manor High School auditorium.

The play “Is he dead?” is about an artist who is deep in debt to a usurer, which is another name for a loan-shark. The artist is unable to sell his artwork so he and his friends come up with a plan to fake his death in order to drive up the price value of his paintings. The play covers the entire scheme and all the crazy complications.

The lead role is played by senior Cody Goldberg, who plays a male and female role in the play.

“I have a lot of respect for Cody, doing this,” said Melissa Mintzer, assistant director of the play. “I give him a lot of props for learning all of those lines and costumes.”

Crews have been working three hours a day, four days a week, since the second week of school.

The cast is made up of 15 students, there are 25 crew members and 4 adults.

The director of the play is Carol Shellenberger, a retired English teacher at Penn Manor. Assistant director is Melissa Mintzer, Tech director is Mark Dennis, and Rebecca Cotich is in charge of costumes.

How do you speak an English line with a French or German accent, when you were born and raised in America?

“Students will have to try and speak in a different accent when, maybe, they have never even studied that language before,” said Mintzer.

Mark Twain is one of the best humorous play writers that ever lived, so the school has much anticipation.

The play is roughly 2-2 1/2 hours long and is brand new, it has never been done before.

“We hope to inspire other schools to do the play in their high schools,” said Mintzer.

The play is extremely funny and the characters have to do crazy, abnormal things.

But the worst part is that, for some reason, not as many people are coming out to the shows that should.

“My least favorite part is trying to get more people to support and come see the shows,” said Mintzer. “They are always extremely good but people don’t always know that.”

This year’s play is going to be a fun and humorous one that everyone will enjoy.

By Dillon Walker