It is a rare privilege for actors to work alongside a playwright as they prepare for a performance and MSMS’s Dramatic performance class has that exact honor when working with Sasha Edwards and her play “It’s Not Ok”. Following the dramatic performance class’s previous performance of “Lockdown,” “It’s Not Ok” will be premiering on May 4, marking the first play that the dramatic performance class at MSMS has ever produced that was written by a current student.

Edwards, previously playing the character Liz in “Lockdown,” has to transition from acting in the limelight to commanding the production from behind the scenes. To some this drastic transformation may seem daunting, but to Edwards the experiences of acting and directing are similar. “I feel that while directing, I’m acting in a sense because I turn into a character that I don’t use on a daily. All in all, it’s an amazing experience,” Edwards stated. Edwards is not the only cast member that is going through a challenging transition.

Maggie Ford, junior in the MSMS dramatic performance class, is portraying the lead role in “It’s Not Ok” named Jessica Tate. Ford has the difficult task of stepping in the shoes of a teenage girl with a difficult social and home life. “There is a lot of unexpected pressure being put on me.  I have a very difficult task of portraying someone who is depressed, and I do not want to portray it incorrectly,” Ford said. But when Ford feels lost in how to portray her role Edwards is always there to assist her. “If I do not understand exactly what the tone of voice or posture of my character is at that moment, I can simply ask Sasha.  It’s a big help to be able to ask specific questions about the play to the person who actually developed and wrote it,” Ford stated.

Dr. Thomas Easterling, teacher of the dramatic performance class, also sees the promise of working with a student director, “It is so exciting to work with a student who has crafted such a story,” Easterling stated. This is not the first play written by a student that Easterling has helped produce, five years ago a student in the MSMS drama club named Trentice Leonard wrote a play that Easterling helped produce. It was helping with Leonard’s play that pushed Easterling into teaching the dramatic performance class.

Following “Lockdown” audiences can expect an even more tense experience from the cast because the play is more focused on family interactions than those of classmates. “The arguments and tensions are more intimate,” Easterling said. Audiences can also expect a very distinct experience from “It’s not Ok.” For example in parts of the play Jessica slips into the past, very similar to the way that Time is meddled with in the legendary play “Death of A Salesman.” Not only does Edwards’s play toy with time, it also has multiple set and costume changes which will be a taxing challenge for stage hands.

Even with the challenge the play offers, “It’s Not Ok” is on its way to becoming one of MSMS’s most anticipated performances. The cast and crew premiere on May the fourth and hope to see a full audience.