Flashing lights and ominous calls rang through the Coppell High School Auditorium on Friday and Saturday as the CHS9 theater department performed “Where the Sky Meets the Sea” of its One-Act Play competition alongside CHS JV theater.

Directed by CHS9 theater director Colin Thomas, the play follows the cast who displayed themes of family, leadership and sacrifice. The story follows five Greek children stranded on an island who were given a quest to finally escape, with a cost: Only one would not perish. 

Freshman Quinn Penniman played the lead role of Astra.

“We had rehearsal after school almost every week, multiple days a week,” Penniman said. “There was a lot of time and preparation put into the play.”

The play, initially a competition piece for the UIL One-Act Competition in November, overcame a last-minute approval and several hardships before coming to life. 

“This was a very fast turnaround and it was originally going to happen in spring,” Thomas said. “With it changing quickly, we started rehearsing mid-October so we have not been rehearsing as long as we normally would have.”

Their hard work resulted in multiple awards for their performance at Rockwall High School mid-November. Friday and Saturday, the cast acted its best once again for the Coppell community.

“It’s a big jump from middle school, and this is the first time l’m seeing it,” said Kumudha Arunachalam, mother of freshman Keya Ramalingam, who played Irene. “They did amazingly well. The kids were so prepared, they were in the zone and we absolutely loved it.”

The preparation gave cast members the opportunity to bond and become close with one another.

“Theater has always been a great place for me to make new friends, but this year really cemented all these friendships,” Ramalingam said. “Some weeks we would have rehearsal every single day, and because of that we honestly just bonded a lot as a group.”

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