Aliens will make a one-day visit to San Benito High School’s auditorium next week to evaluate whether humans show signs of intelligent life.
The high school’s drama III class is presenting “No Signs of Intelligent Life,” a comedy that takes a light-hearted look at human rituals such as dating, gossiping and camping from an extraterrestrial perspective. The one-night performance set for 7 p.m. Friday marks the first of its kind in several years after the school scaled down theater offerings in response to budget cuts.
“I found the premise amusing and I laughed when I read it, so that was a good sign,” said Kristen Porter, a high school drama teacher and the show’s director.
For many students, the show is their first performance after the school dropped its fall play and variety shows for the past several years, Porter said. During that time, the school continued to perform a musical, she said.
Not all the students like to sing, so some haven’t performed, the drama teacher said. Now, the administration is on board with growing the department, but student interest will need to follow, Porter explained.
“And we’d like to do a senior play next year,” the teacher said. “We didn’t get enough interest this year.”
In this show, the aliens meet all kinds of humans from teenagers to survivalists. In an extra twist of the plot, the humans don’t realize they are talking with aliens, the director explained.
In one scene, a female alien goes on a date with a man and walks into the wrong restroom. She chose the men’s room after noticing a placard on the door showing a human wearing pants, just as she had on.
“She’s just very literal,” Porter said. “That’s probably one of my favorite scenes, is the dating scene.”
Tickets are $7 at the door, but students and senior citizens can get discounted tickets when they purchase in advance at the Student Payment Center. For more information, call the school’s drama department: (831) 637-5831 x223.
