Senior Persephone Ferry has been involved with the OPHS theater program throughout her high school years, and after the process of auditions and callbacks, she was given the role of Harold Pudding and the Mad Hatter.

Ferry describes her experience auditioning for this musical. 

“In previous shows, we got to pick what songs we [auditioned with], but for this one, we were given a list of songs to choose from,” Ferry said. “That made that part of the audition process easier, because I didn’t have the stress of deciding.” 

On her audition form, Ferry stated that she would be open to play any of the characters as she enjoyed the variety of options.

“I really liked all of the characters,” Ferry said. “And I’m really happy with the one that I ended up with.”

Ferry usually finds herself portraying characters similar to her personality, so when she found out she was playing Harold Pudding and the Mad Hatter, it was a bit harder for her to connect with the character, who she has contrasting personalities with.

“My character is quite the opposite of me, because he’s like a traumatized war veteran and soldier,” Ferry said, “I don’t relate [to him] a lot, but he’s a little crazy, and I think I can be crazy sometimes.”

Acting can be difficult, often bringing many challenges. Ferry believes that being able to act as a character you’re similar to is much easier than playing a character with a completely different personality. 

“I think it’s challenging when you have to play characters who are opposite [to yourself],” Ferry said. “It’s easier for me to play things that [I’m] familiar with, [because I] know [myself].”

Ferry’s high school theater experience has been very meaningful but she does not plan on pursuing theater in the future.

“I do not plan to do it in the future,” Ferry said. “But I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again.”