As the annual One Acts approaches, the cast is preparing for the last performance of the 2008-2009 school year. The show is a series of short, entirely student-directed plays led by seniors Ella Cooley, Franzi Mayer, Sabrina Riddle, Rivka Kelly and Amalia Bob-Waksberg, junior Michelle Lalonde and sophomore Catherine Volpe. The performances range from light-hearted comedies to acts of suspense, and contrast from other school productions in various ways. “[It] is really special because it’s students picking what play speaks to them,” Cooley said. “I have a lot of free reign except for, well, nudity,” Cooley said.

The small casts leads to a strong bond between members. “You really develop a bond with people that really can’t be duplicated and it’s very special,” Mayer said. “It’s something you get to do on other shows, but [in One Acts] it’s [on] a much more different level,” Lalonde said.

Wallach believes their hard work will be repaid. “The reward is putting a smile on an audience or making them think or challenging their brain in any kind of way,” junior Daniel Wallach said.

Directed by Cooley, the act is a comedy with a serious message about racism and stereotyping. Honest Sancho, played by senior Ben Bowmer, sells Mexicans in his “Used Mexican Lot.” When a secretary, played by senior Shaina Davis, asks for “a Mexican type” for Governor Reagan’s administration, Sancho offers her three different men played by senior Gabe Rivera and juniors Thomas Sheehan and Rafael Brazón. The act also stars sophomore Shivani Rustagi, who plays a Mexican-American. “It’s kind of controversial, so [a challenge is] making it not offensive,” Cooley said. “[The actors] are doing Mexican stereotypes, so it’s easy to interpret it as being racist or not good taste. It’s striking a balance between being funny and not funny.”

The four-woman show is directed by Mayer and consists of actresses senior Lauren Hart and juniors Ronit Roodman, Sarah Powell and Aria Airo. Two of them portray characters while the other two are their interfering consciences. A conversational fiasco ensues when the characters and their consciences communicate and interact with each other. “It gets really complicated and really confusing, but it’s hilarious,” Mayer said. “It’s just such an intriguing play to me. It’s funny, but you can really relate to it, and that’s why I like it.”

Led by Volpe and Lalonde, this act follows the story of a conservative Italian family’s confrontation with the complications of love and marriage. Frank and Beatrice, played by Wallach and senior Beatrice Strnad, are a couple persuading their son Richie, portrayed by junior Austin Lewis, to stay with his wife Joan, played by senior Mimi Willard. Despite some humor, the act underscores the themes of family and the importance of love in a relationship. “[It’s about] how important it is to be in love versus being committed to being a part of a relationship, which is a funny concept to deal with,” Lalonde said. The act also discusses the impact of divorce on a family, according to Wallach. Lalonde chose this play because of its use of accents, she said. “I love playing with accents,” she said. “I talk with accents personally all the time.”

Modeled after the original works of entertainment giants Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, the cast’s rendition brings a dash of classic burlesque comedy from the mid-1900s era to the stage. “The actors are able to work off one another as if they’re improvising, like they’re making it up on the spot,” junior Yvonne Lin said. “In their skits they never did the same thing twice. They’re classics.” Directed by Kelly, the cast includes Lin and sophomores Julie Scrivner and Sam Stein. The act is set in a donut shop, and the performers display “straight man” and “clown” characters that the original Abbott and Costello were famous for.

Adapted from an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” the play’s plot follows five characters in their attempts to escape from a room—none of them, however, know how they arrived there. The cast includes seniors Lee Friedman, Meghna Dholakia, Scott Keenan, Sho Murphy-Shigematsu and Jeremy Brouillet, junior Ben Gardiner, sophomores Liane Chabansky and Sophia Christel and freshman Blake Vesey. Riddle, the director, described the act as creepy but fun. “I want [the audience] to feel confused for the majority of the play,” Riddle said. “It’s so weird it’s almost comedic.”

Bob-Waksberg directs this lighthearted musical that presents the tale of Flungus—played by junior Josh Kelly—a boy with udders who is the subject of an unsuccessful science experiment. Flungus attempts a normal teenage life and attends his first day of high school where his conspicuous udders become a source of embarrassment. The act includes seniors Ali Maggioncalda, Nora Boyd and Shalini Bathina, juniors Angela Marcinik, Jordan King, Leilani Graham, Nick Ziebell and Sam Putney and sophomore Sneha Bathina. “It’s mostly just fun, but it’s [also about] acceptance if you want to take something out of it,” Bob-Waksberg said.

One Acts will be showing from May 14 to 23 in the Little Theater.