Fall One-Acts offers actors more onstage time, larger roles

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Benny He

Freshmen Lindsay Frankfort and Ella West acted opposite one another in the One-Acts.

Ashley Yen, Staff Writer

Lindsay Frankfort stood on the stage of the Black Box and resisted the urge to laugh along with the rows of audience members. She and the other cast members of this year’s Fall One-Acts put on a 90-minute show themed around cars and navigating the road of life.

The show, “Caution: Bumps Ahead,” took place on Sunday, Oct. 21 and consisted of nine 10-minute scenes. Because they require fewer and shorter rehearsals, the One-Acts provided students involved in athletics or other activities the opportunity to participate in theater. In addition, the production — directed by Theatre Director Jamie Stires-Hardin and Fine Arts Director Bill McDonald — allowed more students to play major roles within the same show.

“You get to see small pieces of each performer as opposed to watching them in the background,” said Stires-Hardin, who directed five of the One-Act plays. “Students get to really highlight themselves for a full ten minutes.”

The cast of the One-Acts, which consisted of 21 students, rehearsed around two to three times a week since the beginning of the school year.

Senior Leanna Shebib, who acted for the first time in last year’s musical, stated that theater has helped her make new friends and become more comfortable with performing in front of people.

“I have made so many friends through One-Acts and the musical, and I always regretted not doing it earlier because you really get out of your comfort zone and discover new things,” Shebib said.

For Frankfort, a freshman, acting serves as an outlet for her to escape from reality.

“I get nervous for the first minute or two of being on stage, but then I just sink in, and it’s great,” Frankfort said. “I like being able to play someone else, and I like not to have to be in the real world.”