Senior One Acts showcase talents in comedy and drama

Recently, David Douglas held their one act event showcasing the students of Theater 4 directing the plays. 

For A-nights, the first play was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to 5th Period,” directed by seniors Lily Hoang and Ava Shattuck. This high school based play was about Tommy (played by freshman Kaylan Caputo) who tries to get his bully Bugs (sophomore Caleb Conklin) a prom date with Stephanie ( junior Sabrina Vonica), a lead actress in the school musical. Tommy does this to forever be free of being Bugs and Burps (freshman Night Secrets) bullying targets for the upcoming year. The only catch is that Stephanie only dates lead actors, and prom ticket sales end right at 5th period. 

The second play was “Darcy and Elizabeth", directed by Susan Nash. This play follows the adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice; in the focus of Elizabeth Bennet (sophomore Bella Pahomsky) and Mr. Darcy (Jesus Barajas-Anguiano). The story follows a fun representation of the highlighted events. Jane Bennet (freshman Mia Torres Martinez) and her hesitant yet profound love for Mr. Bingley (sophomore Noah Morales), Lydia Bennet (senior Ella Bielman) getting married to troublesome Mr. Wickham (Keiavi Deitas) and the family moments between the Bennets, Mary (sophomore Sophia Romero), Lydia, Jane, Elizabeth, with Kitty ( junior Gracie Albrecht) and her husband Mr. Bennet (sophomore William Mora-Nuenz). 

The last play of the night was “CRUSHED", directed by senior Leslie Juarez-Diaz. This play features a boy (sophomore Gabriel Clark) and a girl (sophomore Ophi Krding-Watson) without any dating history. They randomly get company from these spirits, a girl (freshman Vicky Juarez-Diaz)  and boy (sophomore Bruno Lopez) narrator who seem to be experts in dating. The play talks about stereotypical dating "rules” to not do on a first date. This includes being an overly flirty Manda (sophomore Lucy Stokes), or a friend zone fighter like Brent (Braxton Warren). The play shows numerous examples of scenarios that may challenge your ability to properly date through hilarious exaggerations and fun ways to show common mistakes in everyday life. 

The One Acts event had a very advanced level of production, with quality actors and funny funny stories. 

“I wasn't really an actress before,” said sophomore Maya Garcia. "It was a super easy way to get more comfortable on stage.” 

For B-nights, the act line-up started with "The Candidate," directed by senior Ella Williams. This play was a humorous thriller of colors. Black (sophomore Salvadore Vergara), Blue (sophomore Alexandra Ryan), Red (junior Nick Barnett), and White (junior Anjali Evers) forget everything about their lives and have to find ways to understand why these "people" keep playing tricks on them while they are stuck in this room. Towards the end, we see a twist, where the entire thing was a test to determine whether White would be eligible for this very important job. What choice does White make?  

The second play of that night was called "The Tick of the Clock," directed by WIlliam Halliday. With the supernatural ability of stopping time, this play focuses on Don (freshman Jordan Oliferovskiy) who has lost his girlfriend and his job to his terrible habit of being late. While he is moping around in the city, he meets this street vender (sophomore Ila Lawrence) who gives him this clock which he soon discovers to stop time. As he abuses his new profound ability, he gets revenge on his boss Ms. Brown (freshman Lere Valor), his ex- girlfriend (sophomore Kathryn Widgery), and his best friend Dillian (sophomore Evan Latimer). After using his watch against society, he soon gets his job, girlfriend and best friend back. Suddenly, havoc happens and he drops to watch which won't work anymore, Don is stuck in time.  

The last and final play was called "Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” directed by seniors Callie Dopps and Ellory Walton. This last and final play follows the classic brothers Grimm stories of Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretal, Snow white (with a slight twist), and a story of the Devil and their grandma. This sensational comedy takes the classic stories way out of context using satire and silly graphics to make fun of the stories we all know and love. We are first introduced to the narrators (juniors Grace Petersen and Ella Hurley-Worthing) who start off very enthusiastic. With active engagement with the audience and comedy stunts, this play was very relieving and a perfect way to end the night. 

"They were great” said theater director Michael Givler, "The audience was so happy and it was like a track from Saturday Night Live. So proud of the production team, and the actors were absolutely great.” 

Coming out of the one act production came the anticipated reveal of next year's musical, “Legally Blonde.” 

"I think particularly now, stories about strong women that aren't influenced by men are needed as strong women representation is really important.” said Givler.