By Jeremy Moore

Childhood memories may come flooding back with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn.

The play tells the stories of six adolescents competing to become the spelling bee champion.

“In the show, you get to see kids spelling different words, but you also see flashbacks from their life,” SE student Sarah Ford said.

Ford portrays Rona Peretti, the bee’s moderator as well as a former Putnam County Spelling Bee champion.

Logainne “Schwarzy” Schwartzandgrubenierre is the bee’s youngest competitor, portrayed by SE student Shelby Griffin. She hopes that after seeing this play, the audience will get a reminder of what it’s like to be a child.

“All of these kids are extremely diverse and quirky in their own ways,” she said. “I hope the audience will feel a little sentimental. Maybe they can reflect on their own childhood and look to the kids who are growing up nowadays.”

SE student Cameron Slaughter portrays William Barfee, a character who uses his “magic foot” to help him spell his words.

“William Barfee was bullied all through school, so that’s why he’s so mean in the play,” he said. “He’s a kid who has a bunch of health problems, but maybe those health problems are in his head. We’ll have to wait to find out.”

SE drama associate professor Pert Durapau, one of the play’s directors, cannot wait to see her students perform on opening night.

“I look forward with great anticipation to a wonderfully successful opening night that allows the enormous talents of our students to be showcased,” she said.