“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen… We’re going to start in a minute, we promise. But first, on the advice of our attorneys, we’ve included a little disclaimer: All events and characters portrayed in this play are the products of the authors’ imaginations… So without further ado, let’s get this over with.” This excerpt comes from Shakespeare in a Nutshell, written by Ames High’s own seniors Madeline Paschen and Lauren Vidimos. The WEB staff decided to catch up with one of these writers, Ms. Paschen, to learn more about the theater-loving, student playwright. The WEB: How long have you been involved with theater? Madeline Paschen: My first play was Oliver in 7th grade. I was in the chorus. It was really fun and it got me hooked. Sine then I have been in about two plays every year. W: Tell me about this play you wrote. P: I wrote it with Lauren Vidimos. We wrote it for Searching for Shakespeare, which is an acting company that performs at Bandshell Park. We wanted to write a parody of Shakespeare’s comedies. All of his comedies have similar plot lines so we took all the plots and combined them into a one-act. W: What do you like better – acting in plays or writing them? P: Acting is easier. Writing was fun because I knew I was going to be in the play. Since I knew this I could make my part really fun. The hardest part was actually directing the play. W: Is this what you want to do when you grow up? P: That would be nice. Yeah, it would be awesome if I could make a career out of it. I don’t know if I can but I will try. Well you heard it here first. Whether she decides on acting, play-writing, or something completely unrelated, one thing is for sure: watch out for this one. Whatever she does, Madeline Paschen is sure to be a success. Till then, enjoy Shakespeare in a Nutshell.