AFTER SCHOOL ON Monday and Tuesday, excited groups of students lugged their backpacks up to the North Attic. They were excited because they were about to audition for Student Productions, commonly known as StudProd.

Today, the cast list was posted. This time, the students were nervous. With only about six parts in each play, not everyone who auditioned would get in.

"It was the most talented group of people I've ever seen at a Uni audition," said junior Lauren Piester, one of the StudProd writer-directors. "It was so, so, so, so, so hard to cast."

"There were definitely a lot of talented people," agreed junior Natsuki Nakamura, another writer-director. "The performances will be really interesting because a lot of people we chose had a really good audition, [even though they] haven't been in plays before."

StudProd is an annual Uni tradition featuring plays written and directed by students themselves. This year's edition is scheduled to be performed 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in the North Attic Playhouse.

Piester is the author of "My Parents Think I'm Perfect," and Nakamura's play is called "Can I Have That in a Sentence?"

The other directors are seniors Kumars Salehi and Zoë Schein, who wrote and are directing "Run to the Sun: A Concise Vignette" and "Why I Hate Your Boyfriend," respectively.

Rehearsals for StudProd will start today after school at 4 and will last until 6.

Last year's productions featured four plays: “Jasper County,” written and directed by Nicole Helregel; “Le Petit Chou,” written by Sarah Pfander and directed by Schein; “I'd Like Two Avocado Sandwiches, Hold the Cranberries, ” written and directed by Krista Olson; and “Cyrano Slanted,” written and directed by Jackie Hedeman.

Helregel, Olson, and Hedeman were seniors last year. Pfander is a member of the Class of 2008.

STUDPROD 2007: CAST MEMBERS

"Can I Have That in a Sentence?" Written & directed by Natsuki Nakamura

• Megan: Diana Liu
• Serena: Brittany Scheid
• Leslie: Maria Gao
• Brandon: James Smith
• Cameo, Old Man: Alan Liang
• Serena's Mom: Jamie Weiser
• Announcer: Adam Joseph

"My Parents Think I'm Perfect" Written & directed by Lauren Piester

• Cammy: Hannah Leskosky
• Simon: Carl Zielinski
• Mom: Anna Gooler
• Dad: Jeremy Kemball
• Julie: Michelle Gao

"Run to the Sun: A Concise Vignette" Written & directed by Kumars Salehi

• Narrator: Jacob Olshansky
• Waitress: Hannah Lake-Rayburn
• Bartender: Ollie Goldbart
• Flirty Woman: Laura Voitik
• Clerk: Alan Liang
• Nice Girl: Eunice How

"Why I Hate Your Boyfriend" Written & directed by Zoë Schein

• Clara: Sian Best
• Frances: Larissa Pittenger
• Palmer: Julian Hartman
• Bartimus: Deren Kudeki
• Alfred James (AJ): Buck Walsh

STUDPROD 2007: BEHIND THE SCENES

• Queen of the Crew: Tianna Pittenger
• Lights: Isaure Hostetter
• Sound: Linda Song
• Lighting Design: Natsuki Nakamura & James Smith
• Crew Members: Andrew LaPointe, Maddy Levin, Stephanie Overmier, Lily Smith
• Sponsor: Barbara Ridenour
• Script Adviser: Jen Goheen
• Program: Lauren Piester & Zoë Schein

STUDPROD 2007: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLAYS

"Can I Have That in a Sentence?"
by Natsuki Nakamura
Megan is determined to win the school spelling bee and finally beat Brandon, but things get complicated when she is too distracted by the letters to look at the whole word.

"My Parents Think I'm Perfect"
by Lauren Piester
Cammy's got a C in math, and can feel the inevitable wrath of her parents from miles away. She and her friend Julie devise a plan to make them see that bad grades aren't really the worst thing ever.

"Run to the Sun: A Concise Vignette"
by Kumars Salehi
Can you find the answer to life by drinking Sprite? Watch the play to find out!

"Why I Hate Your Boyfriend"
by Zoë Schein
Frances is best friends with Clara. Clara is dating Palmer. Frances hates Palmer. Palmer has two hilarious friends named AJ and Bart. Hilarity and cleverness ensue.