Swimming Upstream | Student Production at South Pasadena High School

New Charlotte Dekle play to premiere at South Pasadena High School's Little Theatre February 10 & 11, 2023.

“Swimming Upstream” is the newest play being put on at South Pasadena High School. The play is written by SPHS junior, Charlotte Dekle. This will be the first time that a student has written, directed, and produced a play at SPHS.

“This is the first of its kind and I am very proud of that,” writer Dekle tells us. “The process started with me reaching out to Mr. Hoffa (SPHS drama director) asking if I could do this and he said ok. We worked together for months planning it and casting happened in the end of 2022. From there, rehearsals started in December.”

“Swimming Upstream” is about a woman torn between two lovers on her quest to find the one. “The play is about Mallory who ends up dating two people on her quest to define herself and chaos ensues,” explains Dekle. “Mallory is someone who lacks self definition and doesn’t know who she is outside of her relationships. Her friends help to clarify her relationships as they show what could happen to Mallory. There are discussions of infidelity and polyamory and how to navigate the line between that.”

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Dekle says she was inspired to write the play after trying to merge her love for classic, screwball, romantic comedies with more modern, down-to-earth romantic comedies by having both the hijinks of the classic ones and the drama of the modern ones. “I’ve been writing plays my entire life,” says Dekle, “this is the only one I’ve finished.

The play runs at SPHS Little Theatre on February 10th and 11th at 7 pm. Tickets $5 at the door. South Pasadena High School located at 1401 Fremont Avenue in South Pasadena. Advisory: play includes mature themes

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