One Acts Festival

VHS’s annual One Act Festival took place on April 13, 2017 and features six one-act plays which were all student-directed and student-run.  The festival is a friendly competition and the plays are judged by local theater professionals.

The six shows were split into two acts, with three shows in Act I and the other three in Act II.  The first show was I Don’t Mind That You’re Ugly directed by Elizabeth Barile. This show featured seniors Grace Gault, Lauren Zanders and Jenna Staranka in her acting debut.  Underclassmen featured were Griffin Willner, Renata Curcio, Isabella Hussar, Joe Richinelli, Joey Visone, and Gemma Conlon. The show depicts couples with supposedly a much better looking female half and all of the problems they face when they are out to dinner.

The second show was On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning directed by Molly Ligon. The show featured Abby Bermeo, Molly Ligon and Frankie Lavery. Molly (secretly) rewrote the ending for a more interesting twist.

The final show of the first act was 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview directed by Kayla Golebieski and Dylan Gallagher.  Featured were freshmen Daphne Glatter and Aidan Dyer; juniors David Karpinski, Molly Ligon, and Liz Barile; sophomores Aiden Callari, Gemma Conlon , Julia Capriglione, Emily Wynne,  and Gerald Madjarov; seniors Giulia Licitra , Delayna Feuerzeig, Ava Vasalani, Ian Ziolkowski , Grace Gault , and Julia Cambreleng, also making her debut in the Spotlight players. 

The second act consisted of three shows, the first being Common Ground, directed by Grace Gault. The show was a deep but light-hearted play about life through the doors of a coffee shop. The featured students were Aidan Callari, Emily Wynne, Maya Fortgang, Ava Vasalani, Owen Yarmo-Gray, Lauren Zanders and Alison Zanders. Grace Gault won “Best Director” for her direction of Common Ground, which was also the first show she has ever directed.

The second show, which definitely came as a surprise to the audience, was The Mercury and The Magic, under the direction of Ava Vasalani and Owen Yarmo-Gray. Ava and Owen acted in their own show  While it was a bit vulgar and maybe a little too much for some audience members, it clearly was effective because it won best show of the night. And along with best show, Owen won best actor of the evening.

The final show of the evening, with possibly the biggest cast in One Act history, was The Nine Worst Breakups of All Time directed by senior Rachael Weir. The cast featured Ali Zanders, Gina Gagliano, Dwayne Lawson, David Karpinski, Meaghan Elliott, Frankie Lavery, Lauren Zanders, Joey Zisone, Calian Compierchio, Griffin Willner, Emily Osborne, Dylan Gallagher, Maria Serra, Charlie Boone, Joe Richinelli, Eliana Salierno, and Julia Caprari. Senior, Lauren Zanders received an award for “Best Actress” which was well deserved after her four years of dedication to the Spotlight Players.

The night was an overall success and if you are looking to see the winning show The Mercury and the Magic, come to the Creative Arts Festival on May 29th, where it will be performed a second and final time.