This past Tuesday, January 12th, was the drama department’s annual One Act play, a product of a class project. Senior Directed One Acts “go up” in June.  This year’s selection was Competition Piece by John S. Wells. It was directed and staged by Mrs. Levy-Sisk with student direction from Jess Shawles. The play took place in the present day, with the setting consisting of several different rehearsal spaces.

The premise revolved around how three different drama troupes prepared performances for a one-act play competition similar to Festie, which is the competition Hingham High School competes in annually. With interspersed commentary from the three judges, who embodied different archetypes of judges in real life, the play progressed as groups rehearsed plays ranging from a saucy teen romance full of awkward stage kisses, to an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Leer performed in the style of Japanese kabuki, complete with a rousing monologue by Conor McGeoghegan, to a melodramatic narrative about a single mother. Over-the-top and hilariously awkward, Competition Piece offered the parents in the audience a sincere, albeit exaggerated, view into the lives of drama kids.

After the show, I interviewed several students. Freshman Maddy Fano mentioned how she, “Loved the idea behind the play. I thought the idea of a play within a play was really clever, I liked how we got to see the characters develop.” Indeed, this forty minute show was extremely intelligently directed, and uniquely funny. The cast was certainly deserving of the standing ovation they received, and overall my night was made all the better by attending this year’s one act play.