by Stephanie Kwon

On May 18, 2009, twelve student-directors presented their plays, or One-Acts, in the Westborough High School auditorium. Each one-act was approximately ten to twenty minutes long and consisted of two to four actors. One-Acts have been an annual tradition in the Westborough High School Theatre department for the past few years. Qualified student-directors choose a one-act to direct and have the chance to audition and direct fellow student actors. This year’s one-acts were comedic, well-chosen, and very entertaining.

A comedic one-act “Honeymoon Heist” was directed by juniors Kate Hart and Sam Kahn-Arcangeli. Rachel, played by junior Carly Grayson, and Kevin, played by freshman Michael Colbert, attempt to rob a house in order to make it to their dream honeymoon location of Hawaii.

Hart and Kahn-Arcangeli also directed a second play, “Fly Rudolph, Fly!” A couple, Alison and Tyler, portrayed by junior Kellianne King and sophomore James Ridge respectively, try to hunt, but Alison keeps on getting in the way by pestering her husband. Her husband, Tyler, slowly begins to lose his patience, and by the end of the play, he is ready to shoot his wife. ‘Rudolph’ was one of the funniest acts of the night; King’s zany acting and Ridge’s seriousness made an incredibly entertaining performance. Kahn-Arcangeli and Hart did a phenomenal job on directing their one-acts and it showed throughout both of the performances.

“Check Please!” directed by juniors William Walthall and Meagan Bernatchez, seemed to be one of the audience’s favorite acts. “Check Please!” featured freshmen Chloe Reske and Michael Colbert at the same restaurant on a series of blind dates. They have unfortunate luck with each of their dates, played by seniors Jacob Weinstein and Lauren Guglielmello. Each blind date kept on getting increasingly funnier. Reske and Colbert both did a great job with their characters, and Weinstein and Guglielmello got to show off their talent through playing so many different characters.

The closing act “Self-Conclusion” was self-written by senior Katie Speed and directed by herself and fellow senior Karen Bacellar, otherwise known as ‘Spacellar’. The act was very different from all the others in that it was a very serious play about life and death. The act portrayed two characters, Lennon and Trestessa, played by juniors Timothy Longo and Carly Grayson. The act began with Lennon giving a soliloquy and almost committing suicide by jumping off a roof until Tess comes in to do the same, not noticing Lennon. When Tess is about to jump, Lennon saves her and they begin, after Lennon’s efforts, to talk about why Tess would throw her life away. At the end of the act, Tess reluctantly changes her decision on committing suicide, but Lennon is never able to find out about whether Tess dies or not.

All in all, this year’s One-Acts was very successful. The audience was entertained throughout the whole night. The actors and actresses delivered convincing performances and there were many humorous moments in the acts. The student directors’ talents were shown in every act. Next year’s One-Acts is sure to be just as or even more entertaining.