Every fall, a student-led play called “One Acts” is presented by the STCE drama department. These shows are full of funny puns, surprises and laughter and are highly anticipated each year. Lots of hard work is put into these shows, and it is a great way to bring students together.
“It was a really fun experience.” Says Jaclyn Eakins, a cast member who played the role of Melissa in “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors.” “Since they were smaller casts, it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better, and I can say by the end I was so much closer to my cast than when we started.” So, it is clear that this show not only delivered amazing performances but also helped build connections among cast members.
Something particularly unique about “One Acts” is the limited time they have to put the show together. That in itself makes these shows so impressive. In the 13 days they rehearsed, every one of the cast members worked hard each day to make their ideas come to life. They also had time to bond and get to know each other better. “During rehearsals, we usually ran the show once or twice after we had it all blocked,” says Jaclyn.“But the rest of the time we played games and did other fun activities.”
On their closing night, Friday, Nov. 14, I went to see this exciting performance, and it really lived up to my high expectations. This show was put together so well that I was amazed that our own students were able to come up with these ideas as well as put them together in only 13 days. The set design looked professional, with features like a counter with tables and chairs portraying a restaurant scene, desks and wall decor to represent an office/theater space and an interpretation of a lab, which was done well with a lab table and funny dinner table with a very realistic bird. The costumes were very well done, like a fully painted Frankenstein, and a boy in a chicken costume, all making the characters come to life. There was continuous laughter throughout the crowd the whole night, I included, it was truly a hilarious and fun time.
This show took place in the Black Box Theater and had three different story lines, almost like three different shows, hence the name “One Acts.” Each storyline consisted of its own unique characters, setting and humor, which added even more complexity. Since there were three different plays portrayed in this show, there were also three different set designs. The first set featured a fast food restaurant, with a cash register, tables and chairs—as well as funny characters which pulled the whole scene together. This first part of the show was called “Fast Food”, directed by Vince Minaglia, Evan Luxton and Calvin Reed, taking place in a restaurant environment, a fast food place competing with nearby Kentucky Fried Frickin’ Chicken. One of my personal favorite characters from this set was a dancing chicken named Captain Cluck, played by Tyler Kirch, who had a cool feathery costume. His character was really entertaining, and his dance had a good audience reaction. Another fan favorite were two best friends, who were always getting into mischief. Pat and Patty, Patty being played by Adrianna Melvin and Patty also being played by Tyler Kirch. These two friends had fun chemistry on stage, cracking jokes and taking everything lightheartedly. These characters all had their own unique personalities, which is something that I really enjoyed because it gave more depth to the overall show.
The second setting portrayed an audition where various characters gave it their all to secure a role in “Romeo and Juliet.” Directed by students Addie Osborne, Dorthy Hocker and Theo Koulis, this scene already hooks you in with its catchy name. Titled “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors”, this storyline introduces a casting director who has only one day to cast both a “Romeo” and a “Juliet” for their local production. Only unfortunately, each of the actors that come to show off their talents are quite extreme, each in their own ways. These auditions featured characters with their own quirks when it came to auditioning. This was personally one of my favorite parts of the show because it had a large variety of personalities executed by the actors. Jaclyn Eakins and Avery Szuch played a woman wanting to audition and an overbearing acting coach, who was inconveniently trying to give her student advice. Jaclyn, being the one auditioning, portrayed the flustered and awkwardness perfectly, whenever the coach tried to chime in. Avery, being the acting coach, had that perfect almost “overbearing parent” energy about her, which only added to the scene.
Finally, the last part of the show featured a mad scientist and his apprentice, who created a monster. The last set was particularly cool, showing a lab of a mad scientist who was able to make a monster come to life. This storyline was similar to “Frankenstein,” with its own originality through funny puns and unique characters. Directed by Brody Tyner, Joey Krueger and Ian Cirpinski, this last scene titled “Frank Einstein” was a terrific ending to this series of skits. This final scene portrayed a mad scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, who creates a monster. When the monster comes to life and begins interacting with both the doctor as well as his apprentice, realization hits that he needs to be hidden. Chaos breaks out when passerbys discover this monster. One of my favorite costumes from this set was the mad scientist, who had a really funny gray wig. This was another one of my favorite skits because the jokes were very well written, and the overall scene was extremely interesting. Maried Carlson, actress who played a mad scientist executed the role perfectly. Her hysteria throughout the scene, especially after being discovered with a monster by passerbys, was pure gold. Another great actress in this scene was Kourtney Parsons, who was an apprentice to this scientist. She played the confident-yet still obedient servant flawlessly. This last skit definitely got a lot of laughs from the audience.
“It was a really fun experience.” Says Jaclyn Eakins, a cast member who played the role of Melissa in “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors.” “Since they were smaller casts, it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better, and I can say by the end I was so much closer to my cast than when we started.” So, it is clear that this show not only delivered amazing performances but also helped build connections among cast members.
Overall, this year’s “One Acts” was a huge success in my opinion, as it was entertaining and fun to watch. Throughout the performance, I could see the hard work that the students put into their characters. You could tell each and every one of the performers on that stage was passionate about their craft. It was a fun experience, and I am excited to see what our students come up with next year.
