The Mid-Prairie High School drama department will be performing the play “Spy School” this weekend, a production described as a dramatic thriller with comedy mixed in. High school social studies teacher Natalie Nye is the director of the play, and she’s excited to see all the hard work the students have put in pay off. The play is set in 1961 and follows the story of a young girl who is captured and made into a CIA agent. She is tasked with finding a rival spy in a foreign school. Junior Carah Reimer plays Jane Doe, the girl who is captured. Senior Elijah Meader is playing Blake Moore, the man who serves as Jane’s fake father, and the sophomore trio of Bella Naylor, Lola Knight, and Stephannie Schrock are playing the school’s mean girls.

As both a teacher and director, Nye sees theater as a good way for students to build confidence. She says, “I see students in the classroom who are shy and a little bit scared to come out of their comfort zone. Once they get on that stage and they’re playing a different character, they really have a chance to become more comfortable and really shine with a way they haven’t been able to in other formats. So you really get to see students blossom with other people in the cast, and with learning a new role and really living through that.” “Spy School” will be performed on Friday and Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students.