‘It’s a secret’

Coupeville High School’s theater club has been keeping a big secret.

The WolfPac Theater Troupe will be putting on “Trap,” a spooky one-act play by Stephen Gregg May 5-7, and student actors have remained tight-lipped about the show’s twists and conclusion.

What they would divulge about the play’s premise is this: In the fictional town of Menachap, Calif., a mysterious event has taken place at a theater. Through a series of interviews, flashbacks and real-time sleuthing, local townsfolk must uncover the truth about what happened.

But what caused the strange event? Will the people of Menachap be able to prevent it from happening again?

As cast members Amanda Thomas and Noelle Daigneault both told the Whidbey News-Times, “It’s a secret.”

Thomas, a senior and long-time member of the school district’s theater program, plays Rickenoch Baynor, a University of Minnesota professor who studies fear. For Thomas, the play’s unsettling undertones set it apart from past shows she’s participated in.

“It’s different because of the spooky vibes,” she said.

Director Stefanie Ask said she and the students all fell in love with the play as they delved into it, enjoying the opportunity to explore a new side of theater.

Ask, who has been teaching English and theater at Coupeville High School for six years, said prior to this show, she taught students that there are two thrills in live theater — hearing an audience laugh uproariously and making an audience fall silent with tears. “Trap” has challenged that binary, she said.

“Then we’ve done this show, and I was like, ‘There’s a third thrill — we can scare them!’ And that’s a whole other emotion that the kids on the stage can kind of ride,” she said. “The show has broken open my sense of what stage theater can be.”

While “Trap” might be creepy, the spirit of camaraderie within the WolfPac Theater Troupe is warm and accepting.

Daigneault, a senior who plays Detective Gwendolyn Heche, said the cast and crew are like a family. Daigneault first joined the theater program in middle school but stopped acting in high school to pursue soccer and tennis. When Ask asked Daigneault to come back for her senior year, she decided to do it — and she’s glad she did.

“This has been a really, really good way to close off my time as a high school student,” she said.

Assistant Director Milo Socha, a junior, began participating in the theater program when he was in sixth grade. He said Ask and the theater club members have always done a good job of making everyone feel included.

“The transition between middle school to high school for me was a lot easier because I had the consistency of theater that felt safe and collected,” he said.

That sense of welcome has made Coupeville’s theater club a positive and encouraging environment for students who are new to the stage. For junior Brenna Silveira, who plays multiple roles in “Trap,” this production will be her first full play.

Though she joined the theater club her freshman year, the COVID-19 pandemic precluded her performing live for much of her time in high school so far. When she finally performed at the club’s fall showcase, something felt right to her.

“From then on, something clicked,” she said.

All performances of “Trap” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC auditorium. Tickets for adults cost $10, while general student tickets cost $7 and ABS student tickets cost $5.

Photo by Karina Andrew/Whidbey News-Times From the front, Birdie Sinclair, Abby Mulholland and other Coupeville High School actors rehearse for “Trap.”