Woodstown selects student directors for 2024 fall play

Virginia (Ginny) Messick, a junior at Woodstown High School, performed as Meg Brockie in "Brigadoon" in March 2024. Messick will co-directed the annual Fall Play next season (her senior year) with Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hitchner.

WOODSTOWN — The Woodstown High School Drama Club has announced the student directors for next year's Fall Play: Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hitchner and Virginia (Ginny) Messick. This long-standing and time honored tradition, dating back more than a century, is a top honor for students in Woodstown's theatre department.

Hitchner and Messick were both last seen on stage in this season's "BRIGADOON" at Woodstown High. Hitchner played the scorned lover Jane Ashton who lost her man to the miracle-village of Brigadoon, and Messick played the fabulous Meg Brockie who had a big heart and could tell any story in song. They both received many ovations and great praise at this year's performances, and will surely bring great pride to our beloved high school.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hitchner, a junior at Woodstown High School, pictured center, performed as Jane Ashton in "Brigadoon" in March 2024. She'll co-direct the annual Fall Play next season (her senior year) with Virginia (Ginny) Messick.

Messick and Hitchner will collaborate with Ms. Stephanie Hill, the school's advisor to the Fall Play, to choose next year's show. Now a faculty advisor, Hill is also an alumni of the Woodstown Drama Club, having performed there during the late 1990s.

Which show will they choose? We'll see! The selection is typically revealed over the summer. Performance dates have not yet been announced, but are usually around November or early December.

The tradition of student-directed plays at Woodstown High School dates back more than a century, with yearbook records indicating students directing their Junior and Senior plays as far back as the 1920s, and, though unconfirmed, the tradition may have started in the late mid-to-late 1800s with the founding of Woodstown Public School and the Woodstown Opera House.

Student direction of a play at Woodstown has been a tradition for many years. Pictured here: Dwayne Bell, Donna McAllister, and Bob Quattlebaum collaborate on the production of "GHOST OF A CHANCE" at Woodstown High School in 1968.

Interesting bit of history for the alumni: The last advisor to the student directed plays prior to English/Communications Instructor Paul Kranz reviving the tradition in the 2000s, was Ms. Barbara K. Ohmott. Ohmott was an English instructor at Woodstown High who went on to become the well-remembered and beloved principal at Mary S. Shoemaker Elementary School from 1986 to 1998. She was the advisor to the student-directed plays during the late 1970s until 1983, her last production being "The Curious Savage." 

Student-directed plays were sporadic during the 1990s, but resumed in 2004 with "Harvey" directed by Corey Frank. The following year, I (Jim Cook) directed "A Christmas Carol," and it has become an annual tradition, providing students — some who many not want to be in a musical — an opportunity to explore diverse ranges of drama and comedy.

A list of every student-directed play, and all other past shows produced at Woodstown, can be found at The Great List.

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Want to share your Woodstown-Pilesgrove news in the Crier Column? Email Jim Cook at WoodstownCrier@gmail.com