Amy Shields, a senior at Park View High School, is the student director of the school's upcoming play "Two Ugly Ducklings" "It's a fairy tale that makes fun of fairy tales," she said.
Shields, who has been the assistant director twice before, said she attended a meeting at the beginning of the year where students were offered a chance to direct this play with its small cast of seven. "It's been really fun [and] a great opportunity. But it's hard to remember the little things," she said.
Shields is not sure if she wants to pursue acting as a career, but she wants to be involved with community theater, she said. After high school she is planning to study political science at a college in Pittsburgh. She will also become involved in an extracurricular theater program there.
But directing is not the only part of theater that Shields has explored. She is also interested in acting and has one of the leading roles in Park View's upcoming play "Painted Rain." It is a story about two girls who are foster children.
"The greatest thing [about acting] is the feeling you get when the curtain opens and the ability to make people laugh or cry." Shields said.
Kevin Kirkpatrick has known Shields for over three years. "She really has the mind for it. She leaves her body and becomes the theater," Kirkpatrick said about Shields' acting. He also said that what makes her a good director is that she can relate and level with the actors. "Amy can really talk to them and help them."
Maggie Batherwood goes to the same school with Shields and has known her for four years, she said. "She should be the president of the world. I've never seen her make a bad decision," Batherwood said. "Amy is hardworking, helpful and will get you through anything. She is the sunshine of my very existence."
<1b>— Linda Smiljanic