The Perry High School Drama Department will stage “Check, please!” a two-act comedy by Jonathan Rand, Nov. 6-7 at 7 p.m. in the Perry Performing Arts Center.
“It’s a hilarious show about first dates that go horribly, horribly wrong, and it should be a lot of fun,” said PHS Drama Director Randy Peterson.
The series of dismal and dysfunctional first dates endured by a normal male named Guy, played by junior Sebastian Hernandez, and an ordinary female named Girl, acted by senior Ainsley Marburger, makes light of the hit-and-miss process potential but impossible partners.
“The role is fun to play,” Hernandez said. “There’s so many relatable things that happen on dates,” such as finding oneself face to face with a fanatical football fan obsessed with the Big Game or finding that one’s dinner partner is already picking out a wedding dress 30 seconds after sitting down.
Marburger, who has played several notable roles in her four-year PHS acting career, said they “tweaked some minor lines” to make the characters in the 2002 script seem as contemporary as possible, including the self-obsessed television fan and the prematurely ardent lover boy.
PHS sophomore Kyla McKenzie plays several of the imperfect matches, including Pearl the compulsive thief and Mimi the mime.
“Some of the character are pretty extreme,” McKenzie said, just like real-life people.
Freshman Sarai Jaimes also plays several characters, including 8-year-old Tod, who is a little young for Girl but is at least willing to pay for dinner.
“It’s been good to experience something new,” Jaimes said.
Just when you think the dates from hell cannot continue, Girl and Guy finally bump into one another from their respective dinner tables at the end of the play.
Rand wrote two sequels to “Check Please,” called “Check Please: Take 2” and “Check Please: Take 3,” and the PHS production combines the scripts to create a two-act production. The two performances will feature two different casts:
Cast One
- Ainsley Marburger
- Sebastian Hernandez
- Molly Moorhead
- Bryce Eastman
- Kaylee Hay
- Madelynn Hollingsworth
- Alexa Nelson
- Jose Chavez
Cast Two
- Isabella Nath
- Justice Moreland
- Amber Benway
- Kyla McKenzie
- Kassidy Atwell
- Candace Hoisington
- Sarai Jaimes
- Jefry Gonzalez
