To an outsider, drama’s Senior Farewell might have appeared an unusual ritual, a collection of students laughing and crying and celebrating and dressing up as spies.

But in the words of senior Jenny-Marie Stryker, that isn’t because those outside of drama don’t try to comprehend it, but rather because they simply can’t.

“They don’t understand the tears. They don’t understand why we’re so close because I think it’s something you can’t understand from the outside,” she said. “People who aren’t a part of it just don’t get it fully.”

In addition to shedding tears, students shared speeches and jokes at last Friday’s Senior Farewell, an annual event in which junior drama students give short talks about each senior and present awards in recognition of the talents of each graduating student.

“This is my particular sect within Redwood, and it’s almost like you have to graduate from that too,” senior Ben Brazee said. “I’ve been preparing for it ever since Motherlode was over — I took the final bow, I was done with plays. Now it’s just saying goodbye to the family part of it, the friends I made at EPiC, and the ensemble.”

The theme of the Farewell was spies, prompting Bond-style attire, but according to Stryker, the theme simply provides material for jokes and decorations.

Max Rosenberg and Shannon Hare were selected as this year’s Mr. and Mrs. Congeniality, respectively, two awards presented every year.

An EPiC scholarship was divided between Kayla Kaufman and Michael Amos for outstanding directing and tech work, respectively. After splitting the proceeds from a car wash and from the Farwell itself, Kaufman and Amos may walk away with approximately $1000 each.

According to junior Tom Cline, the juniors of EPiC put an incredible amount of work into organizing speeches, preparing the Little Theater, and executing the event.

After helping to host the event last year, Brazee said that experiencing the Farewell as a senior was easier emotionally than he predicted.

“I thought that when I was up there, it would be really hard to say good-bye, to finally leave,” Brazee said. “But comparing it to last year, I’d say this year was almost easier because I didn’t have to be the one losing something but still being there, almost like survivor’s guilt.”

However, in spite of the Farewell’s symbolic nature, the truly final good-bye comes Monday.

“During the final period that seniors are at, we all sit in a circle and talk about the year. Everybody gets to speak, and usually everybody gets to cry,” Stryker said. “We just say any last words. Britt uses the words ‘anything that needs to be said,’ which I really like. It just clears the air for whatever else is left that we should deliver to our class.”

This year’s unusually large class size of 42 seniors has not hindered the tight-knit atmosphere of the program that develops over the course of the students’ four years in drama.

“We just became closer. Not only did we become closer like a family, like we understand each other, but we also matured as people in the way that normal people do, and we got to go through that experience together,” Stryker said. “It’s weird to think about who we were freshman year. We were so different.”

Senior Rachel Halilej also said she feels extremely connected to her fellow EPiC seniors.

“They know things about me that I hadn’t even come to terms with, and I know things about them that they probably aren’t that comfortable with,” she said. “We all have a very intense bond that you don’t really find anywhere else, so it’s going to be hard to say good-bye.”