Last weekend, Senior Dillon Ziegler performed in his last one-act play at the Prior Lake High School, with only one more show to go until he takes his final bow of high school theatre. He has performed in every one-act play since sophomore year, from playing Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet” in his first one act to, playing Smeagol in “Game of Tiaras” in his last.

Dillon finds real joy in acting and theatre in itself. “I like acting because I find it fun to take on the life of a different character and to tell a story,” Dillon said. In this year’s one-act, Dillon was chosen to play Smeagol for many different reasons. “During his audition, he was energetic and flexible on stage. These are qualities I was looking for in an actor to bring this character to life. I also liked Dillon’s overall stage presence,” said Sheri Brunner, director of Game of Tiaras.  

Another thing Dillon likes about acting is researching the different characters he takes on so he can become them in great detail. “I looked up different hunchbacks and the disease that causes it so I could bring the character more to life,” Dillon said. He worked hard on everything from researching his character to delivering this role with passion in rehearsals. “Dillon and the entire cast of Game of Tiaras worked diligently at our rehearsals,” Brunner said.

Since playing Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet,” Dillon has grown as an actor, adapting different skills and improving through the past 3 years doing one act shows. “Over the past few years, I have seen noticeable growth in Dillon as an actor. With each role he has played, Dillon has been able to expand his acting resume by playing a variety of characters,” Brunner said.

Dillon not only acts in shows, he also does a great amount of technical work for the shows that go on such as the fall musical and the spring play. Dillon has many different memories from theatre, but his most memorable was when he received an honor that is passed down to a senior techie. “ I was so honored to receive the cranberry sauce which they chose to be funny but is a legacy award passed down to senior techies. I received it from Noah Lichtenberger who I look up to as an older brother,” Dillon said.

Since this is his last year being part of the theatre program at Prior Lake high School, Dillon says he will miss “The friends I made. I know it might sound cliche but it’s true. We have become a family.”  Dillon will still continue to do theatre in college, but he will hold the memories of both performing on the PL stage and doing the hard technical work behind the scenes that made the past four years of different shows magical. Most of all, he will miss the memories he made with his friends who eventually became a family over the years.