This weekend, Naperville North’s freshmen and sophomores created a different take on what really happens in a newsroom. Tim Kochenderfer’s “Breaking News” is about Channel 8 Detroit’s newscast, the lowest rated newscast in the state. In a last ditch effort to save the station, a new news director, Andrew Lando, is hired in hope of raising ratings. What the station doesn’t know, but the audience does through a fourth wall break, is Lando plans to kill a reporter for higher ratings.

Usually, the Freshmen/Sophomore play is given little resources and is very small. This year the underclassmen were provided the opportunity to produce a show with roles usually given to older students.

The show was phenomenal, to say the least. The actors really dug into each of their characters, whether they were a lead or in the ensemble. Each character varied in emotions and reactions to an event or action. One, most notably, was sophomore Dillon Bramlet. Though he had few lines, Bramlet continued to react to other people on stage and to what was happening during the broadcast itself. The “off-air banter” that sophomores Taylor Woods and Ben Greenberg created was hilarious. It continued to exhibit the work the actors put into their character analysis and backstory.

The technical choices of the show were also a big contributor to the show’s success. Technical Director Joshua Janssen used minimal yet intricate set pieces to complete the narrative. Most transitions occurred very smoothly. He connected the cameras recording the “broadcast” to the TVs on the NPAC walls, further enhancing the audience’s experience and  making the story truly come to life. The detail of the set can not go unnoticed either. There were only about three big set pieces in the whole show, yet each had realistic details that made it all come together. The words and numbers are done on the “set” of Channel 8, and the specific props like Macbooks, sound boards, and cameras helped the audience to better understand what was happening.

The play was truly great in regards to the acting choices made by each individual actor, as well as the professionalism of the technical and backstage crew. The little details of the set pieces and props really made an impact on the audience and helped feed into the actors’ portrayal of their roles. “Breaking News” proves the future of North theater is in great hands.