Thespians perform a series of one-acts

Blair's Thespians Club presented six one-act plays on June 1 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. The "Better than Broadway" production was the directorial debut of two juniors, Brittany Allen and Caitlin Schneiderhan.

The production's six plays were a compilation of several different genres with elements of surrealism, light and dark comedy and social commentary. The play "Mrs. Sorken," in which a woman – played by junior Lily Naden recites dubious facts about the history of drama from memory, served as a transition between the start of the play and the other five performances.

The second play, "The Philadelphia," featured senior Zach Eaton as Mark and senior Shaagnik Mukherji as Al, two friends sitting in a deli and discussing their states-of-mind and philosophies on life, termed "Philadelphias," "L.A.'s" and "Clevelands," all while the deli's waitress, played by junior Sriya Sarkar, refuses them direct service.

Next came the play "Fight Dream" about a woman, senior Ellie D'Eustachio, with a perfect but imaginary lover, sophomore Adam Carey. The production's fourth play, "New York Actor" featured a large ensemble, including senior Andrew Ogilvy, junior Maile Zox, sophomore Andy Scott and sophomore Tori Heller, as a group of dramatic and self-celebrating "New York Actor" who run into trouble with a local drama critic and his wife, played by Eaton and Sarkar.

The fifth play, "Nine Ten," featured Scott, Zox, Heller, Carey and Naden as a group of grumpy jurors on September 10, 2001. "Nine Ten," heavily humorous with subtle social-commentary, was a serious transition to another comedy and the production's final one-act, "All for Love," in which two women, played by D'Eustachio and Zox, drug and kidnap an elderly man, Ogilvy, and set him up romantically with an elderly woman, played by Heller.

The club originally intended to perform "Harvey" by Mary Chase and rehearsed the play for three weeks before they learned that they would not be able to obtain the rights to the play. After substituting the six one-acts for the lost play, the team made a great effort to make the revamped production a success, according to directors Allen and Schneiderhan.

Allen and Schneiderhan and Thespian Club sponsor Keith Anderson all considered the night's performance a success. "It went really well, especially because of the cast," said Schneiderhan. Anderson added that the students were the ones who made the show truly possible. "This was entirely student-produced," he said. "I just sat and watched them work. That was my only contribution."

The club's "Better than Broadway" production was the club's only performance this year.