The Yellow Boat is a real story about a young boy named Benjamin Saar who takes you through his life with congenital hemophilia, a bleeding disorder. Benjamin was played by Sahuaro’s own Kyle Spellman, a junior in Advanced Drama. “This show has definitely been emotionally challenging. Typically we do comedies, but this year, we’re doing more dramas to extend our acting abilities.” Kyle did an amazing job of expressing the emotions of a small child who doesn’t understand what’s going on, channeling his emotions through drawings. Benjamin had many problems, including depression at a young age due to always having to be in the hospital. The nurse, played by junior Jasmine Lind, is then able to befriend Benjamin through his love for drawing. Over time, he becomes more comfortable with sharing his pain to the nurse, Joy. “This is definitely a tear-jerking play because when you play a lead role you have to get in the mindset of your character, and it just makes you want to cry. This is definitely a show everyone should see,” Jasmine says. 

Sergio A. Romero, a senior, played the role of Eddy. Eddy was Benjamin’s “bestest friend.” When Benjamin was diagnosed, Eddy’s mom was opposed to him seeing Benjamin. Eventually, towards the end of the play, Eddy is allowed to visit him. He asks if Benjamin is going to die and proceeds to ask him if he can have his Legos, once again bringing out the child aspect of the play. At the end of the play, everyone was left in tears or sniffling due

to these young actors amazing performance. “I think the students did very well at portraying the story, it took a while for them to understand the idea of it, they had to portray the characters rather than feel the audience and they did an amazing job at that. I’m also very proud of them for getting the audience to cry, especially since it’s not written in a style many people are used to. Finally, they did amazing at showing a child’s imagination,” agreed the drama teacher, Ms. Rossmeissl.