Upper school seniors Janet Lee, Mary Najibi, MC Smitherman and Rachel Renteria have worked since the beginning of the school year to produce the annual 2016 Student Directed Showcase (SDS), which premiered yesterday night at the Blackford theater.

Each student submitted an application last spring to Director of Performing Arts Laura Lang-Ree, applying to be a director. Once selected, the directors spent the summer before school finding the play they wanted to showcase. During the month of October, the directors held auditions for their plays and selected their cast.

This year’s plays include “Cheating Death,” directed by Janet, “The Internet is Distract — Oh look a kitten!” directed by Mary, “Final Dress Rehearsal,” directed by MC and “Selfie,” directed by Rachel.

“We’ve all put a ton of work into it,” MC said. “So have our casts and so have the families of the casts and Ms. Lang Ree and everyone else, and everything is coming together really well and everyone should come to see it because it’s great.”

“Cheating Death,” a one-act play written by Kamron Klitgaard. The performance, set in a mental hospital, deals with death as a physical form, who takes on the role of the main character.

Mary’s play, “The internet is Distract — Oh look a kitten!” written by Ian McWethy, is a comedy which depicts the consequences of a high schooler’s procrastination on a English Report due to the distractions of the internet.

“Final Dress Rehearsal,” directed by MC and written by Jack Frakes undertakes a metaphysical plot about the final rehearsal of a theater group’s performance of “Cinderella.”

“Selfie,” written by Bradley Hayward, portrays the struggles of being a modern-day high school senior.

The directors and cast members participated in a dress rehearsal on Thursday.

“Honestly I think that we [were] in a good place it’s just that we are nervous for the shows,” Mary said.

After all the preparation and rehearsals, the directors are excited to see their final work, confident in their actors’ performances.

“It’s cool seeing it all come together,” Janet said. “This is the first week we have been able to see each other’s shows.”

The SDS had its first show yesterday. The last show will be tonight at 7 p.m. at the Blackford theater.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Tiffany Wong

Patients from a mental health facility sit in a semicircle during “Cheating Death,” directed by Janet. The last SDS show will be tonight at 7 p.m. at the Blackford theater.