Students at Hinsdale Central High School are transforming snapshots of original poetry into Central’s first September production, “Stuck in a Portrait.”

The cast took part in a special workshop with Chicago poet Kevin Coval the week before school started and, using their original poetry, strung together a theatrical presentation.

Sophomore Angelica Lasala of Oak Brook said this is very different than anything they’ve done before, and from choosing the poems to linking them together with an overall theme, it’s been a very collaborative experience.

“Poetry is pretty much snapshots of the world around us and the set of poems we’ve chosen effectively demonstrates the progression of childhood to adulthood in a very similar way to a photo album,” Angelica said. “Our goal is to foster a new sense of appreciation of poetry for the youth especially and abolish the misconceptions about poetry being old fashioned because this show is contemporary in every aspect and we want to show students that this all can be really, really enjoyable.”

Director Christine Hicks said the audience will be seated on stage to blur the line between performer and audience. She hopes this allows the audience to feel like the performers are speaking to them instead of at them, making their message a little more personal.

“I hope that the audience sees that poetry is accessible and that teenagers are thinking some important thoughts,” Hicks said. “And they are just really fabulous young adults that deserve to be listened to and respected; there’s a lot on their minds.”

For some, this is their first performance at Central.

“From the first day of the workshop, I loved it. It was so free and everyone had such a great attitude,” said freshman Divya Kirti of Burr Ridge. “Here at Central, I didn’t expect there to be a huge drama department but now that I see there is, it’s really exciting and I hope I can get involved more.”

Divya has two poems that will be performed in the show. One explores people wasting their lives and not focusing on living, ending up with useless knowledge without anywhere to put it, while the other is about two portraits that share a hallway but never talk. Divya said she hopes people can realize from this production that not everything in life should be taken so seriously.

For senior Julia Sobieraj of Hinsdale this experience has helped her grow.

“This group is more of a writing community, which helps everyone grow as friends and writers,” Julia said. “They can give you an honest opinion on your writing more than you ever would be able to on your own and it’s a lot more fun.”

This will be the inaugural September play, as the School Board approved an additional production this summer. If it’s successful, Hicks said she would love to try it again next year.