Winter One Act Plays at St. John’s School

St. John's students performed the first of their shows, "You Can't Take it With You," in November. After performing the winter One Acts, they will be staging three more theatrical productions. Pictured (from left) are Elizabeth Elrod, Gabe Bennett-Brandt, Marcus Manca, James Bohme, Charles Rogers, John Henry Wilson and Hannah Tyler. 

Senior Zoe Margolis, junior Kyra Link, and freshman Will Ripetto performed in Words, Words, Words, a one-act coming from Ives’ collection of six entitled All in the Timing. They played three intelligent chimpanzees participating in an experiment to test the hypothesis of an unseen Dr. Rosenbaum that three apes typing randomly for an infinite amount of time will eventually produce Hamlet. 

“Words, Words, Words was really punchy and witty, and the actors did a really great job with the material,” sophomore Irene Vasquez, a spectator, said. 

The other play was Mere Mortals. In this sketch, three construction workers, played by junior Gabe Malek and sophomores Matthew Walsh and Emma Boheme, have a lunchtime conversation while on the 50th floor of a building. 

“I really enjoyed being in the play because I have wanted to act for a while, and my parents have been encouraging me, but I haven’t had the opportunity in past years because of conflicts with other activities,” Malek, who played construction worker Charlie, said.

At first, it appears that these workers lead normal lives, but as the play progresses, they each reveal a secret. To play these roles, the actors needed to assume new identities.

“What was hardest for me was working on my facial expressions or reactions when my character wasn’t speaking,” Malek said. “As a first-time actor, I defaulted to a phlegmatic expression when I didn’t have a line, so I had to spend some time staying fully in character.”

Two performances of the hour’s worth of one acts were staged. One was held at 4:30 p.m., and the other was held at 7 p.m.. This allowed students who wished to see the evening’s basketball game between St. John’s and Houston Christian High School. 

The St. John’s School Theater department has several other upcoming performances. On Jan. 29 and 30, the winter studio show, Talking With… will be staged. The show features 11 10-minute monologues.