Student Drama Association demonstrates the beauty of humans making art

By Britany Adorno-Alicea

Puppet emcee’s Qilford, Qilroy, and Quincy, played by students Eliot Holloway, Nex Conover, and Kaylee Cole during the Humans Making Art show on April 18.

Hosted over two different days last weekend at SpringFest, the Drama Association welcomed people to come view their show, the Extravaganza 2026: Humans Making Art. Their aim with this show was to showcase humans in their natural habit, creative and making art.

Hosted by puppet emcee’s, Quincy and Qlifford, who were brought to life by human hands, and often joined by their sock puppet child Qilroy, brought comedic moments between shows and kept the audience entertained with their witty banter and engaging conversation.

Up first on the set list were the Aurora Aerial Arts club, giving stunning performances by students Stephanie Kiang, Hannah Klevesadel, Levi Sterling, Rori Kattnig, James Frederick, and Emily Hawley. Each student gave a demonstration of how aerial arts is both a graceful yet powerful form of art, through its use of muscular endurance and graceful movements.

Traditional and classic clown culture inspired aerial performance by Emily Hawley to the song Carousel by Melanie Martinez.

Next up was an emotional short performance titled Down by the River, written and directed by student Baylee Lutrell. This piece told the story of Elle, grieving the loss of their friend Corey and struggling to come to terms with their death. Fitz Lutrell and JB Brown’s performances brought the story to life and demonstrated the beauty of human emotion.

Following that emotional experience was a script that turned the crowd right on their heads. The Show Must Go On! was written and directed by Alexanna Thomas and followed a day in the life of Robin as their narrator attempted to make changes to their usual day to day without being caught.

Next up was a lovely performance by the Aurora Acapella Club, performing the song Royals by Lorde. Featuring the wonderful voices of Luci McWilliams, Kevin Clark, Christ Miller, and Sophia Diaz.

Written and directed by Jesse Schnabel, Wet Hands was a comedic performance, starring students Jaiden Yaskulski as Holly and Macy Waarvik as Francis having a conversation about what to do once the dishes were completed, only to be interrupted by two special guests, a goblin hunter and the mischievous goblin they were hunting down.

The goblin played by Ben Hedrick, right, sneaks up on the Goblin Hunter played by Rori Kattnig.

Continuing the comedy moments was a story written and directed by Moody Valentin Pierce, Alternative Archives: Geoffrey's Mom, tells the story of young Geoffrey giving vague and ominous warnings to his mortal friends to not fall in love with his crypt keeper mom.

Lastly on the list of shows was an excerpt from the story Crack Cocaine in the Thanksgiving Turkey, written and directed by Rori Kattnig. This story followed a slightly disastrous Thanksgiving family dinner. Who doesn't have horror stories from Thanksgiving to share?

The Student Drama Association presented a wide range of human emotion and art in their performances that evening and were thankful for all who came to witness humans making art. According to our hosts Qlifford and Quincy, they hope to continue to amaze and entertain people with their art in events to come.