Three student-directed shows will take center stage at Merrillville High School as the theater production class presents this year’s One Act Festival. From acting and directing to costume and lighting design, students are involved in every element of the event, showcasing their work across three short plays: The Pattern is Broken, Serial Killer Barbie, and Some Fish.
Teacher Thomas Mackey said the festival gives students a chance to apply everything they’ve learned throughout the trimester in a final public performance.
“The One Act Festival is the public performance of the theater production classes’ work, basically,” Mackey said. “They are learning what it is to produce theater from the very beginning all the way to the very end, and the performance is what the public gets to see.” The One Act Festival will take place this Thursday and Friday at 6pm in the small theater. Admission is $5.
Behind each performance is more than two months of preparation. Students began working on the productions in March and have spent 11 weeks developing, designing, and rehearsing each piece. Mackey said the process mirrors professional and college-level expectations.
“One of the things is just ensuring that students are actually prepared to take the class,” Mackey said. “Now that we’ve set prerequisites and expectations, students know that every day there’s supposed to be progress.”
This year’s festival will feature three shows instead of two, a change made to accommodate both class size and run time. Mackey explained that the addition gave more students the opportunity to lead and participate in creative roles.
“We thought one of the shows would be around 30 or 45 minutes, but it turned out to be only 15,” Mackey said. “So we supplemented it with another shorter show, and that allowed more students to explore their interests.”
Sophomore Aidan Luskey, who is acting in The Pattern is Broken while also designing for the other two shows, said the experience has been exciting but demanding.
“It is my first time participating in the One Act Festival,” Luskey said. “Doing something like this for the first time is kind of stressful because we have to build a whole show within the trimester—actually, three shows.”
Although new to acting, Luskey embraced the challenge, citing the role as the most unfamiliar and difficult of his assignments.
“The newest and most challenging one is acting because I’m not really an actor,” he said. “So, it’s been difficult to remember lines and get into character.”
Senior Samaya Jackson is directing Some Fish, performing in Serial Killer Barbie, and handling scenic design for The Pattern is Broken. She said directing has been the most demanding part of the process.
“Bringing together different kinds of ideas to make one production is a bit of a challenge,” Jackson said. “But I feel up for it.”
Having taken the class once before, Jackson said the additional third show and her role as a senior added new pressure.
“This year is a bit more stressful because, one, it’s my senior year, and two, I’ve never directed a show before,” she said. “Also, since we’re doing three shows, it’s a bit more work.”
Senior Naomi Pleasant is also balancing multiple roles. She is acting in Serial Killer Barbie, doing lighting and sound for The Pattern is Broken, and handling costumes for Some Fish. For her, stepping into a speaking role onstage is a new milestone.
“It’s been a little challenging,” Pleasant said. “Even though I think of myself as a preppy nerd girl, trying to act it out and make it more exaggerated for the stage has been more difficult than I expected.”
Though she helped with the festival in previous years, this is Pleasant’s first time being in the class. She said the reality of preparing three full shows within the limited class time was eye-opening.
“Mr. Mackey said it best—that we basically had 24 hours of class time to cue, make sets and scenery, get props and costumes for three shows,” she said. “So it’s a stressful task, but the shows are turning out great.”
Junior Alphonso Royal is taking on two acting roles and managing props and scenery design. He said the design process, though new, has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the festival.
“Getting to make ideas and just see them come to life—that’s pretty cool,” Royal said. “It’s very fun, especially since I’m in a class where I pretty much know everyone, so the chemistry is there.”
Even with past acting experience, Royal said the volume of work required for the festival, including line memorization and blocking, posed its own challenge.
“The most challenging thing for me is memorizing each line on top of the blocking,” he said. “Although it’s not exactly the newest thing to me, it could be challenging at times—but I’m up for it.”
Each student emphasized that the festival offers a unique opportunity for the audience to see student-driven productions from start to finish.
“What the public doesn’t see is all the work that they put in behind the scenes, leading up to the performance,” Mackey said. “And they get graded based on what ends up on stage.”
Students echoed the excitement about the variety the audience will see—from genres and technical design to tone and storytelling.
“Each show is different in its own way,” Jackson said. “So different scenery, different lighting cues, different sound cues—even the genres of the shows are different.”
Royal added that the best part is seeing the creativity of fellow classmates on full display.
“These shows are directed, built, and produced by us,” he said. “It’s all our ideas put together to create three very distinct and different shows.”
