On April 16-17, the Pirate Players put on three One-Act Plays. The point of One-Acts is to give students who may not have gotten a big role in the fall play or winter musical to get more acting experience. However, all of the students who participated did not seem like rookies at all.

Speed Date was a comedy written by Janet Allard and directed by theatre teacher Ms. Lara Corvera. Senior Elleni Yeshiwas (Laura) starred as the facilitator of a speed-dating event who ends up participating in a few dates herself. Senior Kyle Craig played John, who was a recent divorcee. Throughout the course of the play, junior Emma Stubblefield played all of Craig’s dates and junior Seth White played all of Yeshiwas’s dates.

Although Stubblefield and White took on many roles, each were comical and the audience was greatly immersed in each one they took on. Craig and Yeshiwas both have experience from this year’s school musical “Beauty & the Beast” which definitely showed. They did an equally great job of providing comedic relief as well as being serious, and had amazing chemistry with each other when their characters met at the end.

A highlight of the night was the play “Henry’s Law” written by Stacie Lents and directed by senior Haley Reynolds. The play was a “dramedy” about the dangers of bullying in the digital age. Junior Jarred McCormick played main character Max who was a very smart, unpopular kid who tutors cheerleader Sara, played by junior Alonna Gibson. Gibson’s on-stage boyfriend Jason, played by senior Louis Johnson, gets angry once he realizes that Sara is getting closer to Max. Soon, vicious rumors start circulating about Max that ultimately result in him making a rash decision that greatly changes the lives of those around him.

The students involved in putting this play together did an amazing job. Lydia McCullough and Jarred McCormick put on a really believable performance as brother and sister who love each other deeply but may not understand each other.

“Henry’s Law” had the audience members completely invested, emphasizing to them that people should be more careful about what they choose to put about others online. It left a lasting impression on the crowd. I believe people left the room thinking more deeply about how their actions affect others than when they arrived.

The last play “Tick Talk” was written by Lindsay Price, and also directed by Corvera. Each character had a name such as “Uh” and “Dunno” to emphasize how those in Generation X do not always do a great job of expressing their feelings to their peers.

Most characters in the play just repeat the same line multiple times, which means their conflicts were not completely clear for the audience. I believe the goal of the writer was to have those viewing the performance to look between the lines; what I got from it was that even when people have a lot to say, they have great difficulty doing so because in today’s digital age, not everyone is as candid in person as they should be.

The 2018 One-Act Plays taught some valuable lessons in the mere two days that they were performed. The underclassmen who participated made a great decision to get more acting experience, and I expect that they will wow the crowd if they choose to audition for the productions being put on in the 2018-19 school year.