The Black Box filled with laughter as an eager audience watched their peers- turned–frat-boys race around the stage. Frat boys, frequent characters in this year’s student-written One-Acts, fought to complete a beer mile challenge in “The Pledges.”
This year’s annual Winter One-Acts included five student-written, -directed and -performed comedies: “Promotional Video,” “Car Sniffers,” “Pop the Balloon,” “Ok-Pop” and “The Pledges.” Due to snow days, the school moved the One-Acts to Thursday Feb. 5 and Friday Feb. 6 from late January. The shows ran for only two nights instead of three.
“Pop the Balloon” was a comedy act featuring the Tik Tok–famous pop-the-balloon dating show format. Directed by juniors Brooke Hughes, Mason Wechsler and Mina Holtzman, the show on Feb. 5 featured junior Lulu Wachs, who chose among five eligible young men, played by junior Dillon LeBlanc, a gay contestant; junior Jonah Levy, a frat boy; senior Sosi Audain, an eccentric student who recently studied in Italy; junior Matias Sevak, a wacky contestant; and junior Nathan Tureck, a subdued Middlebury graduate.
(Levy is a sports editor and Brooke Hughes is the visuals editor for the Bit.)
“Honestly, I think it might’ve been a good thing,” junior Natalie Ogden, who acted in “Pop the Balloon,” said about the smaller number of shows. Ogden said she thought the change generated more hype for the One-Acts.
Senior Finley Meyer, who directed “The Pledges,” saw positive results from the smaller number of shows. “I think it just increased the excitement,” Meyer said. The Pledges featured unlucky undergraduates—senior Brady Shipe, senior Avery Eshun, senior Charlotte Glendinning, sophomore Rachel Hellman and senior Anya Finkelstein—rushing a fraternity run by a corrupt president, sophomore Stella Kaplan, and her hesitant assistant, senior EJ Mazo. The fraternity leadership ordered pledges to complete a series of dangerous tasks, including looking after a murderous baby, sophomore Liv Glendinning.
Even with two shows full of engaged attendees, both Odgen and Meyer were still a little disappointed that one of the shows was cut. “More publicity, fewer shows, give or take,” Ogden said.
Because all this year’s One-Acts were student-written, there was even more creative freedom behind the scenes. “If it’s a student-written production,” Meyer said, “it can be more outrageous or as unique as [the directors] want it to be.” In past years, some students have used preexisting scripts for their One-Acts.
Attendee Drew Rohrbaugh, an uncle of a crew member, noted that the student-written productions made the One-Acts more enjoyable. “I’ve been to a few of the shows throughout the years; this was actually my favorite one,” Rohrbaugh said. “I love that the kids wrote everything.”
Glendinning, who acted in “The Pledges,” said she felt the lower stakes of One-Acts made the shows feel more manageable. “Honestly, sometimes One-Acts will be more organized than the mainstage shows,” Glendinning said. “With the mainstage shows you’re organizing so many people. With One-Acts you’re with your own group, and you just have to focus on yourselves.”
Ogden noted that her one-act met mostly during community time and lunch periods, giving students who participate in other activities, such as sports, the opportunity to participate in theater. “It is a really fun way to do something with your friends or do theater if you’re not interested in doing the mainstage productions,” she said.