High Life A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : ‘Dining Room’ Is a Hit : Festival to Feature Sunny Hills High Drama, 1 of 3 Best Plays

The Sunny Hills High School drama department’s performance of “The Dining Room,” voted one of the three outstanding high school plays by the Southern California Educational Theatre Assn., will be presented at the association’s 20th annual festival this weekend at Fullerton College.

“I didn’t expect it to do this well,” said Mary Krell-Oishi, the school’s drama teacher for the past seven years and the play’s director. “I thought it was a good show, but not that good.”

“The Dining Room,” written by A.R. Gurney Jr., takes place in--where else?--the dining room of various families. The drama features a cast of nine Sunny Hills students, who play five different roles each.

“I chose this play because it’s linear, there’s no beginning and no end,” said Krell-Oishi, who has taught drama for 14 years. “It’s challenging to the director, actor and the audience. They have to pay attention to know what’s happening.”

A total of 45 high schools competed to be named one of three regional winners. Sunny Hills went up against 18 schools in the Orange County Southern Section.

The plays were evaluated by SCETA judges, who attended the performances, then graded them for costume and set design, sound, acting, directing, ensemble work and the overall performance.

In addition to winning its regional, Sunny Hills’ production was also nominated for an award in set design and many of the actors were nominated for individual awards, which will be presented Sunday at the festival’s conclusion.

News of their selection came in December, and when Krell-Oishi told her cast, she said, “everyone rushed into my office to call their parents.”

Senior cast member Bobby Lewis commented: “I was totally confident. We spent so much time on it, and it went smoothly, even during rehearsals.

“When Mrs. KO (Krell-Oishi) picked the people for the play, everyone already knew each other pretty well,” he said. “Also, everyone was already friends with Mrs. KO and we had a sort of love for her and she felt the same about us.”

Fellow thespian Sherrill Snyder, a junior, added: “It was my best experience at Sunny Hills . . . a hell of a lot better than taking tests!”

Snyder said: “I think the success of ‘The Dining Room’ is because of Mrs. KO. She drilled us. Mrs. KO told us what to say and if it wasn’t right, she made us say it over and over until it was right.

“Our hair, the costumes, the (props), the makeup, all had to be perfect. I was glad that Mrs. KO finally got some of the recognition she deserved. I’m thrilled that I will be able to work with the cast and Mrs. KO one more time. She’s a perfectionist.”

Though the cast may give the credit to Krell-Oishi, she, in turn, gives it to her students. “The kids worked their butts off,” she said. “They knew their lines and knew the different characters.”

Krell-Oishi said the cast was faced with uncertainty about 10 days before the play first opened in November. One of the actors transferred to another school, and while his move left everybody stunned, the cast came together, divided all the parts again, and arrived at rehearsal the next day with their new lines already memorized.

The director said she had “never worked with kids that good. They’re just a bunch of excellent kids.”

Though Krell-Oishi said she is pleased to have her production and students honored by the SCETA, she doesn’t usually like entering drama competitions. “It’s just one more thing to worry about and to make a nervous wreck of people,” she said.

“What if the judge is sick or is just having a bad day? Then they wouldn’t be very fair and honest in their evaluation. Some judges don’t like the play itself and are not willing to watch it.”

Krell-Oishi said that once, during the performance of a different play, she was seated in the lobby (she says she can’t stand to watch) when a judge came out, told her he hated the play’s plot, then left.

The drama teacher is also a playwright. She expects her first book, “Scenes of Happen,” to be published in August, and she is preparing another book along the same lines for next year.

“The Dining Room” will be performed at 1 p.m. Sunday at Plummer Auditorium on the campus of Fullerton College, 201 E. Chapman in Fullerton. Tickets are $6 and will be available at the box office half an hour before the curtain.