Everybody knows that creating a play can be tough, challenging, and difficult; it comes with the act of performing a play. However, those who don’t get involved with productions may never know how tough it can be, unlike Maya Whitaker, a Junior, who directed Perry’s last theater production, Footloose.

When I asked Maya about what was most difficult about directing the play, she responded with, “The most difficult part about managing the play is being able to get everyone together and knowing what they’re supposed to do at a particular time and being able to manage different groups at one time.” This includes the responsibility of running the show, running the performers, and running the play all fell on Whitaker, who handled it with style.

But not everyone may have the talent Whitaker has, so take her gift for handling tough situations with a grain of salt, the chaotic thing we all know plays are must always have a great director behind it, bringing it all under control.

Even someone like Whitaker loves when something difficult ends, I questioned how she felt on the last Saturday showing, what she felt when the curtain fell and the last scene ended.

She responded with “It was definitely kind of a sigh of relief I usually do that after every show because I know that it went great, and I got a lot of people saying it was a great show, but it was also, you know kind of sad.”

However, even with the difficulty of directing something like Footloose, everybody will feel that feeling of sadness as the show ends, knowing that this is the last time you will see it or be a part of it.

Footloose isn’t without its issues however, as with anything done in life, Maya states that they only begun to do full run through of the play the week before opening night, which can explain why some people say there were issues.

Maya responds to this with “I definitely would’ve liked to do something faster, to have more time to go through the entire play and have people have more stamina, and endurance throughout the entire production.”

Take anything anybody does with a grain of salt, that is how life is, how it will always be, but do not judge too quickly or review too hard without background information; things can be going on just outside your perception. Maya Whitaker knows this, and still managed to pull off a wonderful play because of it despite the overwhelming stress one may feel when managing a play like Footloose.