Gracing St. Charles East High School during the fall of 2023, the “One Acts” returned with a lively display of anticipation. The energetic and ever-changing performance is an annual production anticipated by the Theater Department. As One Acts only occur in the fall and summer, they get a lot of participation from interested students—particularly the seniors of East.
From Nov. 8-10, the community of St. Charles was able to enjoy these student-directed acts, consisting of three plays that are each one act long. This means each act is short, with a run-time lasting around 30 minutes.
“The Customer Is Always Wrong,” which was directed by seniors Parker Moran and Maddy Leinonen, invoked an experience that many working students at East can relate to—the fact that the customer is not always right as many typically say. It told the story of four students as they traversed their new jobs as a theater attendant, a waitress, a nanny and a flier distributor. Each dealt with difficult clients and customers and were eventually compelled to quit their jobs in the frustration of working a minimum-wage job. This One Act was by far one of the most interactive, with fliers being handed out to the front row and a glass of water being splashed at junior Olivia Burchett towards the end of the act. As Burchett was splashed with water, it was as if the audience stopped breathing for a moment, shocked at the turn of events. This was what made the One Act so interesting and really showed the struggle that the characters felt when faced with difficult customers.
“Good Cop, Bad Cop” was directed by seniors Theo Bryant and Meredith Musial. This display featured senior Mary Kate Schoessling as Pam and junior Josh Kennedy as Jim, two cops that are assigned to find out who switched all of the street signs in their town. Through a series of investigations, they discovered the culprit was the insane police chief. Eventually they used their unexpectedly pink fluffy handcuffs to arrest their police chief, who was played by sophomore Addie Osborne. The screenwriting of this act was well done, as it effectively combined pop culture references with witty exaggerations. In combination with the lively acting, it was consistently delivering contagiously funny lines. The slight predictability of the plot made the viewing even more endearing, allowing the audience to think less and laugh more.
Following varying situations, “Epic Fail” was directed by seniors Molly Kiefer and Andrew Petrine. The act followed its characters, those of whom are students, and their struggles in day-to-day high school life. The scenes consisted of a student who was learning how to drive, a girl’s struggle navigating her love life and a student’s grappling through the assortment of snacks from the vending machine. Each a situation that was deemed a failure. However, what wasn’t a failure was the directing that Kiefer and Petrine displayed through the cast. Evident certainty was displayed by the actors, something that had to be manufactured only through proper directing. This allowed the acting to shine through with the wild use of shock factor, and furthermore, amplified the cast’s portrayals through the imaginative use of the set. For instance, Kiefer valued the bond shared between cast members.
“We were able to have tons of laughs, but also get work done,” Kiefer shared. “The bond of a cast is super important to a show,” she said.
East’s fall One Acts, while having a quick turnaround from the fall play “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, echoed the effort put in by each student in their three weeks of rehearsals and tech.
