Wandering into the Grand Marais Playhouse one Tuesday afternoon, I sat down and ended up laughing myself silly! High school students were on the stage speaking “gibberish.” Gibberish? A language of its own—a way of communicating with sounds, voice inflections and one’s body.
I had come to watch the rehearsal for Cook County High School’s One-Act play, which as of this writing, is yet unnamed. But don’t despair— the One-Act will be in English. The rehearsal I observed was just part of preparing the students for life on stage.
Director Michael McHugh and Assistant Director Adam Helbach were kind enough to tell me about this year’s production. Director McHugh wrote this year’s One-Act after asking his students what kind of play they wished to do. Students agreed they wanted something comic.
After many revisions and brainstorming sessions, this year’s play was born. Theplay is about putting on a one-act play—more specifically, about high school students performing a portion of Romeo and Juliet. This original play delves into the issue of trust… with scenes emphasizing distrust of authority to later scenes focusing on the trust that grows when people work together. It is, indeed, a comic play, but a play reminiscent of what many involved in theater have no doubt experienced.
Photo courtesy of the school The cast and crew of the one-act play within a one-act play are (L-R, front) Asst. Dir. Adam Helbach, Yvonne Block, Aliya Marxen, Sarah Warren, Mara MacDonell, Sarah Larsen, Jordyn Kirk, Jesse Johnson, Kaleb Abelon, Katrina Axtell, Kayla Stacy, Erica Borson. (L-R, back) Director Michael McHugh, Will Brandenburg, Sarah O’Phelan, William Hellner, Tyler Goldstein, Ashley Ross, Jordan Zunker, Zack Twiest. (Not pictured: Sebastian Schnobrich, Brittany Lilienthal, Michaela Peterson.)
So what’s the purpose of a One-Act play? Have you ever seen one? The One-Act play competition is sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League and is open to all schools. There are strict rules schools must follow if they wish to compete. The play can have no more than 20 students in and the play cannot take more than 35 minutes. Cook County High School will compete against eight other teams on January 30 in Esko. If they rank in the top two teams they will go to sectionals and if they win at sectionals, they will go to the state competition. Last year, the CCHS team made it to the state competition with their performance of Oedipus Rex.
This year’s cast consists of a number of students who were in last year’s one-act play and some new faces as well. This component—the experienced and the novice— is what makes the One-Act play at CCHS so special. As Director McHugh points out, this activity is one of the most important extra curriculars offered by the school. The play brings together a mix of students, males and females, and requires no special gifts of talent. Rather, it seems the main requirement is that of commitment.
One-Act participants begin rehearsal in January for a public performance and competition at the end of the month. How do they do it? By having loads of fun! “Fun” is one of the goals for Director McHugh.
By playing games like the “gibberish” exercise, the student becomes someone or some thing other than a CCHS student. A transformation occurs. Students who might not have said “hello” to each other work together in an amazing and sometimes challenging environment. Students become actors, actresses, stage managers and in charge of lights or music. Students learn some things not taught in the classroom and a spirit of cooperation and trust takes root. And amidst all the practice, games, and “work” is laughter, lots of it!
This year’s comic One- Act play is filled with classic Shakespeare passages…”O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” but it is completed by real, current life comedy and trauma. It is a play that all will understand, relate to, and enjoy.
Mark your calendars now for this year’s One-Act play— one night only—on January 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Marais Playhouse. The magic begins!
This behind the scenes look at
Grand Marais Playhouse activities
is provided by Playhouse
Board Member Maureen
O’Phelan.
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