During Spring Week of the Arts, there will be a multitude of brilliant showcases of art, but just to highlight one of them, let us tell you about the one-act shows directed by some of our seniors!

Last year, there were also senior-directed plays performed. This is a very special thing for the seniors who are directing it, as they are being given the opportunity to actually be in charge of a production, (not to mention, sadly, one of the last shows of their last year of memorial). A one-act show is a very brief play, about 10 to 20 minutes long with a small cast. Since the shows will be very individually short, they will be performed all together, one after the other. The performances will be on May 23rd.

To provide a little snippet of information about the shows, we’ve interviewed seven individuals to tell you a bit about the productions they are involved in.

First, Transfer is a show about a girl named Rain, played by Star McGaha, who comes back to high school after an incident that killed her parents. Soon, she discovers that there is a new transfer at school who everyone likes, and is being ingrained into every aspect of Rain’s life. Alexis Garland is the director of the show, and after seeing how last year’s shows were, was motivated to do them this year. She says that this experience is great for making new friends and building upon friendships with people you weren’t as close to before. When I asked her to summarize the show, she put it into three words: “Transfer, Crazy, Death”. Jojo Olson is a freshman who plays the role of “Mrs. Becks” in Transfer. They say to come see the show because it goes into real life issues with a mix of humor and physiological horror, with lots of suspenseful elements. 

Next, the play The Philadelphia begins with the main character, Mark, meeting his friend at a diner when he’s having a bad day. The friend proceeds to tell him everything’s okay and that he’s just, “in this metaphysical place called a ‘Philadelphia’,” quoted by the director, Megan Streit, where every time you ask for something, you end up getting the opposite. Megan has always been involved in Memorial theater since freshman year. When asked why she wanted to become a director, Megan said it felt like a good way to leave the program. By ending off on a high note for one final goodbye, as a sort of rite. Being in theatre has always been fun for her, and now directing a play herself, she shares that working with the underclassmen has made it even more memorable and that she hopes those memories will inspire them to follow along and direct when they’re seniors as well.

Then, for the play Saturday Night, I asked actor Ellie Grace Armstrong, a senior who plays the role of “Alex”, to give a short summary of the play she’s in. Without giving too much of a spoiler, she says that two characters, Alex, herself, and Corey, played by Kohl Zahn, are “deciding what to do on a Saturday night.” In the interview, Ellie Grace talks about how she’s always loved theatre, been involved with Memorial theatre, and acted in the one-acts last year and had a lot of fun doing that so she decided to audition this year as well. She describes being in the show as having a “really great community, …A blast to participate,” and that it’s “always exciting to be a part of something so special.” The director of the play Saturday Night, Charlie Plummer, summarizes the show as “a fight between an engaged couple.” Charlie stated in his interview that he’s always wanted to manage one of the Senior one-acts since seeing them. Now getting to direct one means that, to him, you’re bringing a show that’s simply on paper to life in any way you see fit.

Continually, another show in the lineup is called Brights, and is directed by Mable Miller. June Witt, a sophomore who plays the character “Vera”, who’s also in the Spring Play, says that she was drawn to the one-acts to pursue all of the theatre and acting opportunities that the drama club offered for the year, and enjoys being able to interact with many different people, like freshmen, in the rehearsal process of the show. The show is about four people in a car, talking and arguing among each other.

Last but not least, Julianna Vander Zanden is the Stage Manager for the one-acts, and that means, as Julianna puts it in three words, “Talking, Folders, and Scheduling”. One of the things Julianna highlights for being stage manager is that, in general, it’s really fun being in charge of everything while also mainly getting to work on your own.

All in all, coming to see the one-acts would not only be fun to experience one of the last performances of the school year, but also a great way to support your fellow Spartans partaking in this challenge of making a show, all by themselves. We hope that you will all come and see them!