From watching Brendan Stack trying to pick up a girl in Sure Thing, to seeing Seth Harper and Danielle Barrett bond on a ledge in On The Edge, the Winter Week 10-minute Play Festival was an all-around success. The festival called on students from all parts of the school. From freshman to seniors, all actors displayed superb acting skill Thursday night in the “Side A” of the festival.
The first play, Preach, written by junior Amanda Whittaker, featured Cato Crumbley, Kate Fiske, and Ben Wolhfarth. The story is about a religious couple holding a “damned” prisoner in their household. Although the plot was a little hard to follow, the roles were well played.
The next play, The Man Who Couldn’t Dance, starred Julia Lopriore and Ryan Budnick. This short scene depicts a woman and her ex-boyfriend reminiscing and examining their choices in life. Although this play wasn’t one of the most exciting, the two actors got into their parts and performed well enough to make the play interesting.
Our Town, a charming love story between two young students played by Caitlin O’Keeffe and Connor O’Neill, was also a big hit. With some unexpected laughs in the middle, this play proved to have a nice balance that kept it light and enjoyable. O’Keeffe and O’Neill also did a very good job of making their situation believable.
The next play, The Picnic, was written by Wayland High School graduate Corey Vogel and starred Tiffany Billing, Ryan Budnick, Sophie Facher-Yarin, Lowell Glovsky, Jonah Greenwalt, Seth Harper, Kayla Rice, Haylee Rosenblatt, and Jesse Vogel. Jesse Vogel also directed the play. The Picnic is all about a group of eccentric friends getting together to have a picnic. But not all goes as planned, and some of the friends are exiled from the gathering. Although the plot and actions of this play were seemingly random, the wild costumes and funny roles made it worthwhile. [adrotate group = “2”]
The following play was The Philadelphia, by David Ives. Featuring Caleb Greenwalt, Seth Lifland, and Hannah Mead, it told the story of a man who thinks he is stuck in “a Philadelphia,” a situation where nothing you want gets done, and the opposite of what you want happens. Lifland’s flawless accent and mood swings were probably the best part of this play, but Greenawalt and Mead also acted impressively.
The second-to-last play for Side A was Sure Thing, by David Ives, starring Lauren Colwell and Brendan Stack, and directed by junior Monica Chu. At first the plot of this play was confusing, but after a couple minutes, things became clear. Sure Thing, depicts all the different things that could happen when a guy tries to hit on a girl, but there is only one outcome that results in a happy ending. Each time the conversation turns the wrong way, the characters get a chance to try again until they finally succeed. Stack did a great job showing his disappointment and happiness as he tried out the different situations, while Colwell was also amazing at maintaining her strong and independent character.
The last play was On the Edge, by Craig Pospil, and was definitely this critic’s favorite. It featured Danielle Barrett and Seth Harper, both of whom also attended the Emerson Play Festival earlier this year. The plot of this play is about a young student, played by Harper, who wants to commit suicide because the girl of his dreams likes another guy. A different girl, played by Barrett, finds him standing on the ledge of a building about to jump off and tries to find a way to stop him. While dealing with such a serious situation, Barrett and Harper managed to make the play humorous and extremely believable. One could visualize the two of them standing on a ledge 50 stories in the air and looking down at the tiny cars below, instead of being barely 3 feet off the L1 floor. But what struck me as most impressive was the way that the actors were able to turn into their characters. We believed them. They never showed any sign of their true personalities, really turning into their characters instead of just playing them.
Overall, the drama department has come up with yet another success. The everyday problems such as girl troubles, betrayal, and frustration were portrayed elegantly, with a humorous factor that made the plays even more enjoyable.
