In late April, the Spotlight Players tackled the fantastic feat that is the One Acts program.

These are mini-plays produced and directed by the students with  little guidance from adults. 

Every year, about five to seven directors, working alone or in pairs, run the one-acts, with 20 to 30 students acting. Adult directors only help to schedule rehearsals and give suggestions if asked as they supervise. With the exception of that, the student directors are given the reins of independence to put on the play their way.

These students do everything to put the show together, including choosing the play, production, casting, direction, and more. Typically, the students get four weeks to do everything before the show is put on, but only had two weeks this year, which gave them even more of a challenge. There were five one-acts this year, all comedies or comedic dramas.

The first was titled Slide/Over, in which a lesbian girl kisses her male best friend, and everyone loses their mind over the happening. The second comedy, If Girls Asked Boys on Dates provides a take on what might happen if typical gender roles of dating were reversed. Three Guys and a Brenda takes an all-female trio posing as utterly clueless factory employees who collectively fall head over heels for their attractive co-worker. The fourth, Lost Identity, stars a former mobster forced to participate in the witness protection program to lose his identity, but whose identity is determined to find him again. Finally, the fifth play titled 15 Reasons Not To Be in a Play starred three narrators demonstrating the behind the scenes nightmares involved in partaking in a play.

Like every project, participating had its perks and downsides according to the student participants. Among the directors, it was unanimously agreed that having the ability to independently choose your own play, cast, and direct the way you want was the best part; it increased the feeling of pride and accomplishment once it was done. Having their work judges was a perk as well, because it gave them tools to improve for next time. The downsides included the stresses of coordinating everyone’s hectic schedules to plan rehearsals, getting proper costumes and props together, and above all dealing with the extreme pressure of having to get everything accomplished within the two week period.