It’s been nearly a decade since South Whidbey High School drama production students took the stage.

Thanks to the perseverance of two South Whidbey High School students, Chloe Hood and Kari Hustad, drama production is returning to the school. The community will have an opportunity to see it return to life during a preview performance of “Almost, Maine” on Sunday, March 13 at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. The event is hosted by the South Whidbey Schools Foundation and will be held from 3-5 p.m. Exhibits of innovative classroom grants funded by the foundation will be on display from 3-4 p.m. in Zech Hall, followed by performances by the high school jazz band, choir and drama club.

Hood and Hustad enlisted the help of Jean Shaw, a former drama teacher, director and producer in the 1970s-90s, Whidbey Children’s Theater and Michael McInerney, a former high school drama teacher and director from 1986-2004, to bring back the program. It has been on hiatus since 2008.

“Almost Maine” was the most produced play in high schools across the country, according to a press release. The play takes place in various locales in Almost, Maine, a fictional small town in northern Maine and explores love and loss.

The play will run five performances, on April 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The final performance will be on Sunday, April 17 at 2 p.m. at the high school auditorium. The production team consists of Shaw, Michael Morgen and Whidbey Children’s Theater.