theater |

Students reveal mystery in performance of “Clue”

Posted on May 19, 2026 by pattersonpressportfolios Leave a comment

By Akira Sumpter

This year’s spring play was a murder mystery from 1985. Clipper Productions performed “Clue” on April 23rd and 24th.

The show was set in a mansion during the Reagan era, where a mysterious host has invited a group of adults who had never met each other and who were not to share personal information due to the risk of jail or isolation.

These people were brought to the house for some unknown reason. It began at dinner when conversation began and certain data about their personal lives slipped out, making others suspicious. This, in turn, led to someone building evidence on all of the attending guests in order to blackmail them.

When they found out they were being blackmailed, the butler gave everyone a gift, inside which was a random object and potential weapon, leading them to again be suspicious. This led to a lot of murders and secrets.

The actors playing these characters truly were in character. Every emotion and movement was intentional and authentic.

“[This play] is definitely in my top 3, between Aladdin Jr. and Mean Girls. This play has definitely been my favorite because of the set design and doors as it was very immersive for me in that type of setting”, said senior actor Deontay Blackwell, who has been in theater since the second year of his high school career.

The play was also a hit with the audience.

“What a pleasure it was to witness our students’ talents in the production of Clue!”, declared Assistant Principal Ms. Berkeley. “Their murder-mystery performance was a testament to the collaboration of City Schools and the home. Our students do not come to us as empty slates. We take what they bring and polish it until it shines.”

Ms. Berkeley praised Ms. Ritter as a “visionary” and noted that the performance showcased a variety of skills that the cast and crew had developed during their time at Patterson, including memorizing, speaking, projecting, expressing, improvising, and more.

This dedicated group created a moment that will never be replaced or forgotten. It was a moment where time stopped and we all went into a different realm. This feeling is called the artist’s high. A special shout-out to all of the seniors who performed their last high school play: Amori Matthews, Akira Sumpter, Deontay Blackwell, Jamira Ellison, and Jeremy Jones.

The adult production team includes the amazingly well rounded director Ms. Ritter, the hardworking technical director Ms. Prince, the talented assistant director Mr. Jamel, and Michael Kerney for sound operation. The student production positions include Adrianne Battle for lighting, Sophie Cruz for sound operator, and Amori Matthews and Akira Sumpter for the set construction team. Ms. Holter, Adriel Osorio, Anthony Parra, Kaiya Patterson, Jecoria Roscoe, and Akira Sumpter made up the painting team, while Jordan Jefferson, Amori Matthews, and Akira Sumpter served as stage crew and handled foxie moxie productions for audio. Last but not least, the actors: Jeremy Jones, Romeo Merritt, Doryen Brockington, Lluvia De Los Santos, Alivia Wallace, Keyri Ramirez, Zenobia Owens, Deontay Blackwell, Jamira Ellison, Alvaro Ramirez-Badillo, Joy Jones, and Logan Lance.

New play performed by theater crew

Posted on February 5, 2026 by pattersonpressonline Leave a comment

by Akira Sumpter

Clipper Productions, Patterson’s drama club, performed a brand new play on November 20–a dystopian story titled “In Darkness, Audio Flowers Bloom” written by Alvaro Saar Rios. Since the script had just been published, cast members had to brainstorm creative ways to draw emotion from the text with little to no visual examples of how the play is supposed to be presented. The actors quickly embraced their characters and prepared for opening night.

The play was performed on Thursday, November 20th with an encore performance the following night. The first performance seemed like it went by slightly faster than the Friday show, which was for the parents, staff and family members.

This is only one of the many challenges our amazing crew members had to endure during the production of this play in a short two months. Everyone in the packed auditorium who watched this play enjoyed every second of escaping into a new world. The audience also liked the authenticity the story displayed.

At times the audience found the plot a little hard to follow, due to some actors who could not make it to the performance, forcing the rest of the cast to improvise. “The storyline was interesting but oftentimes i was confused as to which character was which”, commented alumnus actor Jabari Heartly. Overall, though, most audience members appreciated the meaning of the story–that oftentimes your fears are your worst enemy.

There were mysterious characters named Silencers, who “silenced” the characters by keeping them frozen whenever one entered the stage coming from the depths of darkest corners. Characters weren’t allowed to make sounds, express themselves or create music with any so called “instruments”, and if they were caught doing so they were sent to some place called the “O Pits”.

The resolution of this story ended with a character sharing some top secret dance moves they learned from being sent to the “O Pits” and with combined vocals they created music together. Everyone was happily being themselves without living in fear of being killed, threatened or imprisoned.

This play was impressively put together without much information and time and yet was still a success. In the Spring semester, the Arts department will perform a musical aiming to wow the audience.