Amy Ward, a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, has been in H-F theater since her freshman year. After an interview with Ward, here’s what she said about her experience at H-F, her previous theater education, and her lead role in the play ” One Stoplight Town.”
“I have been in the H-F Theatre program since my freshman year! I have done theater in middle school and I knew I loved it but I didn’t know it was my passion until my freshman year, during the show Peter/Wendy,” Ward stated, “I got the opportunity to play Wendy and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had.”
H-F’s theater department has been around since 2002 and has put on plays such as “Annie, Mama Mia, The Wizard of Oz”, and many more. H-F does from five to eight plays every year. One of this year’s plays is One Stoplight Town, starring Amy Ward as the lead character Trish. “A reliable people-pleaser who always fixes the one stoplight,” said Zion Sands, a crew member for the play.
“One Stoplight Town” is about a small town that receives a brand new stoplight, but some characters don’t believe it’s necessary. Trish, played by Ward, trusts it can bring new opportunities and more people to this town.
“I originally wanted to be in “One Stoplight Town” because the second I read through the “script”, I fell in love with the story. The concept of change is the biggest theme of this show and change is something that is super prevalent in my life right now, so being able to tell this story and show the change in this town in such a beautiful way was more than I could have imagined,” said Ward.
The play opens with a scene of Trish fixing the lightbulb in the newly installed stoplight. Once the light is on and working, Trish says, “Yellow, red, green. Slow down, stop, go.” The stoplight follows her orders.
Throughout the play, we see many characters go through different phases of their lives. “With this show in particular, the characters are so personable that it needed to be natural so that was the biggest thing I was going for,” said Ward in regard to her perception of the play.
Ward also stated that she considers the theater her home; “I knew this was my home and I wanted to lead as much as I could. It is currently my second year as the President of our theater department here and I couldn’t be more grateful!”
Amy also plans on continuing her theater career throughout college, “I plan on studying acting in college,” she stated. “I am currently in the process of auditioning for different schools and programs. It is a risky path to go down, but there isn’t anything else I could see myself doing.”
