Two longtime teachers in the theatre department, Austin Long and Julia Rucker, left at the end of last year, leaving two teachers completely new to the district to take over Aledo Players, Junior Thespians and all theatre classes. This workload might have been too much for some, but Christi Skinner and Joseph Dassinger have done as well as could have been expected to keep the theatre department on the same prestigious level.

Last year’s productions proved popular with audiences. “Shakespeare in Hollywood” was a huge hit, “Big Fish” left many in tears, and “All Shook Up” made people laugh so much they cried as much as they did for “Big Fish.”

The most recent production, “A Lighter Shade of Noir” which ran from Oct. 4-7 did have a different tone than the productions last year.

“All Shook Up” was the most recent production before “A Lighter Shade of Noir,” and they were both comedies; however, their extremely different tones made them incomparable. “All Shook Up” utilized music, as it was inspired by Elvis Presley, but “A Lighter Shade of Noir” used comically-timed monologues as the basis of many jokes. Each audience member has their own preferences, but both performances were well-produced and left the audience laughing.

This fall play was about renowned detectives, one of which, Trent Trowell was incompetent at his job, and the rest of detectives were narcissistic, egocentric and convinced that they were the greatest investigators.

In the play, the characters were brought together and forced to solve a crime that occurred with them present. It focused on them working together to clear their names and discover who the true villain was, which required them to put aside their own interests and their own egos. The twist ending of the detectives’ assistants being the villains provided a surprise that shocked some and drew the entire play to its climax and its satisfying resolution.

Sophomore Riley Wolfe played the lead role of incompetent private investigator Trent Trowell, and though it was his first lead part in a play, he demonstrated his abilities as an actor through his portrayal of this over-confident detective.

The props added to the historical feel, as they were all appropriate for the time and looked the way one imagines a noir film would appear in color.

In addition, the lighting effects contributed to the most memorable parts, such as the monologues and the robbery scenes.

This was a small production, hosted at the beginning of the year, but the theatre department did well, given the limited time production time. The entertaining show left the audience giggling and the actors more prepared for future productions.