Senior One Acts: A Review
Seniors get the opportunity at directing the One Acts
The senior One Acts were just too good. Each one was filled with scenes and characters that made people laugh out loud. This scene from “Dauntless: The Wit Of One” shows Dauntless getting hit with a giant cannonball.
May 11, 2023
Seniors let their leadership, artistry, and creativity shine with this year’s absolutely hilarious One Acts.
The One Acts are an amazing opportunity which allows theatre kids to do things they normally wouldn’t do. This year there were five acts and they were “Dauntless: The Wit of One,” “The Timid West,” “At the Frog Fountain,” “A Duet for Bear and Dog,” and “Check Please.” Out of the five the first two were originals written by the directors themselves, and both of them held up really great to the other three.
A lot of people enjoyed the show and the cast’s performances.
“They were really good. I was kind of pleasantly surprised,” senior Aiden Fruehwirth said. “I was expecting I don’t know a little less corny, but they were really good.”
Junior Arely Perez-Gomez was impressed with how talented the performers were.
“I was honestly really impressed,” Perez-Gomez exclaimed. Not only Liberty students but others had great things to say as well one such person was eighth grader Brooklyn Donohue. “Everyone did amazing. It was so funny and I was laughing the whole time,” Donohue stated.
I went to the One Acts and in this article I will be giving my overall review and thoughts of each one.
Dauntless: The Wit of One
The first act of the night was “Dauntless: The Wit of One” which was written and directed by Connor Smith and co-directed by Emily Hammock. This was the longest One Act with a run time of about 30-40 minutes. Although the run-time was long, none of the scenes seemed unnecessary, however as an audience member there were some scenes that felt dragged. The plot of this story was that of a young wannabe knight who tries to take down Lord Bigus, an arrogant and selfish dictator and his minions. All of the actors did really well in their roles and had good dialogue delivery. One of the highlights from the show that made it unique from others was all of the action sequences that were composed in a very entertaining way. Overall, I enjoyed this one act really well.
The Timid West
Following “Dauntless” was another original One Act, “The Timid West,” which was written and directed by Elaine Thimyan. The unique thing about this One Act was that the idea for it came from a sketch created in the improv class. The story is set in the wild west and to sum it up, “The Timid West” was about a cowardly brother and sister duo who try to rob a bank. I really enjoyed a lot of the scenes, especially the shootout scene which was just too good. All the actors did a great job. The inclusion of a narrator whose dialogues added to many situations was one of the show’s strengths that distinguished it from others. I also loved the use of having an actor play the part of the gun bullet, swooshing across the stage every time someone got shot. All in all, I thought this one act was a great watch.
At The Frog Fountain
Next up was “At The Frog Fountain” which was directed by Shane Wolz. This One Act didn’t have an overarching story but was rather a compilation of different college life scenes which take place at an old fountain called the Frog Fountain. Some of these scenes include a young couple falling in and out of love, a girl who recently broke up and keeps encountering a quiet boy, and a duo who are playing Romeo and Juliet in a play among other fun and comedic scenes. At first it is a little confusing as you are waiting for these scenes to overlap with each other. However, each scene is very well done and makes you laugh and smile. Once again the actors did well in their parts really giving the audience a fun glimpse of college life. In general as a whole, I enjoyed the One Act.
A Duet for Bear and Dog
After that, was “A Duet for Bear and Dog,” directed by Anna Wright and Morgan Feinstein. This One Act was about a pregnant female bear who is stuck up in a tree and a dog named Borris who interacts with the bear. This story was different as even though it was still very comedic it had a touch of seriousness at the end making you feel for the bear and dog. The actors who portrayed the bear and the dog did really well, and all of the other actors did well too. I really liked how it was different from the other, not just being all comedy, and making you feel a little sad too. This was another great One Act filled with great performances.
Check Please
Last but not least was “Check Please” directed by Payton Busselman. This, like “At The Frog Fountain” was set up as a collection of different scenes however this One Act had an overarching plot. “Check Please” is about a boy and a girl who go on a series of different and bad blind dates and at the end they both end up together. I really enjoyed this one to say the least. All of the different bad dates were hilarious. Furthermore, all the actors did amazing in their roles. I think the ending of the boy and girl who had to suffer through a bunch of bad dates finding each other was really sweet. I especially liked the end line, check please tying in the title of the One Act. This One Act was definitely the best way to end the night.
All of the One Acts were too good to really critique. There were some that I enjoyed more than others, yes, but all of them were still very well done. While the purpose of each One Act was to make you laugh, they all had many unique parts that made them special. For the seniors first time directing, I feel the quality of the One Acts were on par to other Liberty plays. I also thought that the co-directors, stage managers, and costume directors did a great job as well. The casting choices for each One Act was really fitting and all the cast did great. All in all it was a great night and I can’t wait to see the talent next year.
