The week following Spring Break, students will be performing and directing plays during One Acts, on April 1 and 2.
One Acts is an opportunity for high school students to take on a directing role where they get to pick an original piece or a previously written script and direct it with their own individual style.
Auditions were held on March 8 and anyone was welcome even if they had not traditionally been a part of the theater program. For the student-director selection process, students who are interested propose an idea to English and theater teacher Mr. Christopher Thomas, and plays are chosen by him based on appropriateness.
The plays selected for this year consist of “Cindy,” “The Real Problem,” “Safe Sex,” “Drama Geeks vs. Zombie Cheerleaders,” “How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying,” and “Death and Daisy.”
Most directors consist of juniors and seniors; they try to keep their plays to 15 minutes in length.
“Student directors have to have had experience from being in One Acts or active participation in our theater program,” stated Mr. Thomas. “And then the other thing that is important is that they have to have either an idea for a One Act or script that they have chosen, and then besides that, we usually choose based on seniority.”
For the most part, the plays are completely student-led, but Mr. Thomas, along with Theater Coordinator Mr. Kevin Holly and Fine Arts Supervisor Mr. Dustin Helvie, help to supervise the process.
Once the student directors are chosen, they hold one-day auditions where they are able to chose from their peers to be in their plays. These auditions are supervised by Mr. Thomas.
“We encourage everyone to audition even if they aren’t in theater. We have one day of auditions where student directors hand out scripts and have us read for them, and then afterwards all the student directors have a big casting meeting where they decide who to cast,” shared senior Jackie Ovassapian who has participated in One Acts in years past and will be acting in “Cindy” this year.
Rehearsals for the One Act performances are typically two times a week and are held from 7-9 p.m. after school wherever the students can find space (usually a director’s house). They usually begin the weekend after auditions.
When show week for One Acts finally rolls around, the directors and actors participate in a tech rehearsal, in which they do a final run through of each of the performances in the auditorium.
“I like that it’s all student-run and there isn’t a lot of administrative hand in it,” shared senior Libby Conley, who will be acting and producing in the upcoming One Acts. “Everyone kind of takes a lot of creative liberty with it and there isn’t as much pressure with One Acts as there would be with a main-stage show. Yet it’s still really really fun and everyone still works super hard.”
