One to Remember: A 2018 One Acts Festival Recap

One to Remember: A 2018 One Acts Festival Recap

Owen Crann, Staff Writer

Last weekend, members of the Delbarton Theater program, consisting of Delbarton students and girls of neighboring schools, performed in the annual One-Acts Festival on Friday and Saturday nights. The One Acts Festival is an annual theater event at Delbarton in which students perform in four one-act plays, written and directed by fellow Delbarton students. Therefore, the One-Acts are a truly unique experience for the students in the theater program due to their student-led organization, allowing the students to partake in new roles in theater that they may never have tried before. Another unique aspect of the One-Acts is the fact that several students who usually do not participate in the theater program try a new activity and participate in a new facet of extra-curricular life.

This year, the four one-act plays presented were The Next Screenplay, written and directed by John Paciga ‘18; Hunting for Millennials, written by Damien Sylva ‘20 and co-directed by Derek Lattmann ‘19 and Christopher Maximos ‘19; The Coat Closet, written by Peter Cain ‘18 and directed by Trey Heller ‘18; and The Nephew of Liberty, written and directed by Aidan McLaughlin ‘19 and co-directed by Max Alexy ‘19.

The first one-act, The Next Screenplay, simultaneously told the stories of two high school seniors in different time periods, who ended up being mother and son, as they experienced the same struggles of a typical high school senior, with the pressure of college acceptances, to maintain their relationships with friends and family, and to decide their dreams and aspirations. The plot ended with a twist, however, as the mother revealed to her son that her becoming pregnant with him derailed her dream of becoming a Broadway star. The second one-act, Hunting for Millennials, told the story of two older owners of an obsolete hunting club turning to two younger consultants to help them attract younger members, specifically millennials, to their club.  Throughout the entirety of its plot, the story highlighted the stark differences of opinion between the generations in regards to hunting practices. The third play, The Coat Closet, told the story of three siblings dealing with the possibility of the foreclosure of their home. This story was definitely the most somber of the plays as the siblings struggled with their pasts and the foreclosure’s implications for their futures. The final one -act, The Nephew of Liberty, told the story of George Washington trying to shape his nephew into an honorable soldier in the army, but, his nephew could not have cared less about joining the army.  However, in the end Washington realizes that each man must follow his own path.

The One-Acts Festival was truly “one” to remember! We cannot wait until next year’s selection of plays, to showcase even more of Delbarton’s finest playwrights, directors, and actors.