Closing the Curtain on One Acts
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Maria Vargas, sophomore, and Dylan Judge-Steuck, junior, the stars of “Ferris Wheel” sit at the top of the ride. Vargas’ and Judge-Steuck’s characters met on the ride.
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Mo Robblee and Abbi Fine, juniors, work to repair the mechanized “figurines” while Harrison Keller, junior, becomes frustrated with the device during “Property Rites.” In the play, the “machine” cost Keller’s character 12 million dollars.
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Josh Freeman, sophomore, dramatically conversing during “The Dressing Room.” Rose Soumare, sophomore, in the robe at right, was the star whose dressing room the play was set in.
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Rose Soumare, sophomore, and Andy Gamble, sophomore, in Soumare’s dressing room during “The Dressing Room.” Gamble convinced Soumare that she was still a star.
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Rose Soumare, sophomore, flaunts her over the top drama while Andy Gamble, sophomore, looks on. Soumare was a famous performer in “The Dressing Room.”
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Estelle Bayer, senior, acting as the mother of Grant Cohen, ninth grader, in “Property Rites.” Bayer’s family was a potential buyer for the computerized figurine machine.
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Zoe Herstig, ninth grader at NJH, completes a command as a computerized figurine in “Property Rites.” The figures became slowly autonomous.
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Aerin O’Malley, ninth grader, expresses her anger during “Property Rites.” O’Malley was one of the machines who became autonomous.
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Taylor Vanderploeg, junior, and Aerin O’Malley, ninth grader, fight over their fate as machines during “Property Rites.” Vanderploeg ends up killing Hansen Keller, junior and the machine’s owner.
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Aerin O’Malley, ninth grader, and Hansen Keller, junior, fight during “Property Rites.” Keller did not know the machine could malfunction to make autonomous human beings.
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Brennen Ohlemann, junior, and Olivia Gulden, sophomore, talk about their past and future plans during “The Man Who Couldn’t Dance.” The two used to be in a relationship before Gulden married another man and had a child.
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Brennen Ohlemann, junior, and Olivia Gulden, sophomore, argue during “The Man Who Couldn’t Dance.” Ohlemann met Gulden’s baby and husband and regrets letting her go.
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Feb 1, 2015
60 students, 36 actors, four stories, three nights: One Acts.
On Jan. 29, 30, and 31 the HHS theater department, Royal Productions, put on their annual winter One Acts. Consisting of four small plays with completely different casts, the plays amounted to a night of depth and diversity.
The production featured “Property Rites” by Alan Haehnel, “The Dressing Room (an expose)” by Mary Louise Wilson, “Ferris Wheel” by Mary Miller and “The Man Who Couldn’t Dance” by Jason Katims.
In “Property Rites,” Hanson Keller, junior, struggled to control his 12 million dollar singing-doll computer mechanism. He unsuccessfully tried to sell the “device” to Andy Schoonover, junior, and Estelle Bayer, senior, a sassy mother-son duo. The “figurines” were installed incorrectly, and began to become autonomous.
“Property Rites,” which contained the largest cast, was the longest of the four plays and was a multi-faceted look at the struggle between monotony and autonomy through technology and modern-day business, and ends with a twist. (Shh, don’t tell).
“The Dressing Room” starred Rose Soumare, sophomore, who did justice to the fabulosity of her over-the-top character, a somewhat washed-up performer. Her dressing room attendants, friends, and fans supplied funny and dramatic quips. As soon as the star was starting to lose steam, the performance ended with a hopeful beginning.
The other two performances consisted of two actors each, providing the most insightful pieces of the night.
“Ferris Wheel” highlighted the beauty of vulnerability. Maria Vargas, sophomore, and Dylan Judge-Steuck, junior, were the stars of the and honest and open story about doing something once a year that scares you, which for Vargas, whose character was scared of heights, meant going on a Ferris Wheel on her birthday. Judge-Steuck was her seatmate, and when the Ferris Wheel got stuck, their time together led to the start of a new relationship.
Brennen Ohlemann, junior, and Olivia Gulden, sophomore, played the estranged lovers in “The Man Who Couldn’t Dance.” Their mature dialogue told the disheartening story of soulmates who give up who they love for what that person may need. Ending with a dance, the play was a truthful display of affection and the trials of time.
A night at The One Acts provided humor, clarity, sadness, and an extremely well-done job by HHS actors.