“Hands, two, three, four. Head, two, three, four. Butt, two, three, four.” They stand in a circle, shaking out and warming up. The fall play fits the dramatic cast well,

and they will get their chance to showcase their talent and work this week.

The theater department will perform the fall play Because Their Hearts Were Pure in A117 this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. It is a high-energy, classic melodrama with a hero, a villain, and, of course, a damsel in distress.

“It’s a very hearts on the sleeve kind of show,” director Aaron Johnson said. “All the actors are very demonstrative in what emotions they’re feeling. It’s a big over the top thing.”

Because Their Hearts Were Pure is about a young couple, Melody and Goodwin, played by Sophie Niles and Nathan Painter. They plan to get married, but they need money. They try to pay off their mortgages to the villain Sebastian Hardacre, played by James Sullivan, but he wants Melody for himself and works to steal her away.

“[Acting in the show is] very energy-dependent,” Andi Mau, who plays Lulu Mae, said. “It’s interacting and bouncing off each other. You’re reacting to their energy.”

The liveliness of the show is Johnson’s favorite part. He also has a personal connection to the play: when he was 17, he performed as Sebastian Hardacre.

“I want to do a melodrama every few years,” Johnson said. “This was one of the ones I did way back when, and I decided ‘You know what, it’s time.’”

The cast has been working hard to prepare for the show, with rehearsals every day from after school until 6:30 p.m. Last week, they worked to 8 p.m. to ensure the success of the show.

“I think that because it’s such a time commitment, and we’re spending so much time with each other, we became very close,” Sullivan said.

The cast is looking forward to everything from the many entrances to the reactions of the crowd, and they are confident that their performances will be great.

“Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses individually, but as an ensemble, together, we make the show,” Painter said. “Individually, we have our things that we’re good at, but together we make the weaknesses better.”

The show will be dinner theater style, which means food, including popcorn to throw at the villain, will be sold. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for adults. The audience is encouraged to cheer, get into the performance, and wear costumes to the Halloween showings.

“Come see the show,” Zane Johnson, playing Hardacre’s assistant Finn, said. “It’s going to be great.”