Oppression. Maybe high school students know it. Probably they don't really. Probably most of us don't. Imagine being forced from your homeland because of your religion. Think about having to marry someone you don't love.

At Mandan High School, they have been thinking of these things lately, along with the ability of the human spirit to overcome such inordinately large obstacles.

The school's drama department has been working on "Fiddler on the Roof," the classic musical that has carried the above themes to audiences around the world. Director John Dasovick, music director Keri Hess and the students will present the musical Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Mandan High School Auditorium.

Because of its powerful message, "Fiddler" required a special cast, Dasovick said.

"This is an actor's musical, not a musical-musical,"Dasovick said. "The people in it need to be strong actors first, in order to pull off the characters."

Seniors Brandon Coyle and Brianna French, both of whom plan to study theater next fall at North Dakota State University, were chosen as the leads. Coyle plays dairy farmer Tevye and French plays Tevye's wife, Golde.

The musical is set in czarist Russia in 1905, in the Jewish village of Anatevka. It is a very modest world guided by tradition, and is about to undergo major change.

"Fiddler on the Roof" opens with Tevye and Golde trying to find husbands for their daughters. It is tradition that a matchmaker - here, Yente - arrange marriages. That was how Tevye and Golde were wed, and that was how their daughters would be, too.

But the daughters protest, and, as love blooms, tradition begins to unravel.

As Tevye struggles inwardly with these changes, a great external force exacerbates the situation. The Russians have openly begun persecuting Jews in violent fashion, forcing them from their homes. Tevye's way of life is challenged from inside and out, and under the stress of it all, he imagines the fiddler on the roof, symbolic of the terribly uneasy footing his people have.

It is a powerful musical, as Dasovick said, and will be performed in full. Hess will direct the student orchestra.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.

The MHS Auditorium is located at 905 Eighth Ave. NW.