Lewis-Palmer High School is presenting the play “Great Expectations” in less than a week and the cast and crew are working hard to make sure it is a good show. The play “Great Expectations” is about an orphaned, a poor boy named Pip who leaves his home in the country-side of England to go to London to learn how to be a gentleman.

Pip, played by Michael Merola, 12, starts as a insecure, scared little boy who tries to hide behind money and trying to be a gentlemen. Pip was suppose to be a blacksmith until he was offered an opportunity to go to England. In England, Pip rooms with another boy named Herbert, played by Robert Kaylor, 11, said.

“Michael Merola is doing a great job. He’s such a great actor. He’s so amazing. Michael is going a really good job getting into his character. In the play I get to fight with him. I have to lose, but I’m still excited,” Kaylor said.

The set that the crew built is in a shape of a giant book because the play is based on a book and words are throughout the entire set. According to Carson Schlem, 9, and Kaylor, the hardest part of acting isn’t the memorization of lines. The hardest part is getting into the character that they need to be.

“Most people would thin the memorization of lines would be the hardest, but it’s getting into your character. That’s because these characters don’t exist so you can’t go talk to them to get more into character. You just have to read books or watch a movie to see how they act,” Schlem said.

Both Kaylor and Schlem are anticipating the few minutes before opening night where they are about to go on stage and their stomachs are churning. With opening nights in only a few days, and rehearsals going well, the cast and crew of Great Expectations are working hard on their set, characters, and costumes to make sure they are ready to put on a great show.