The One Act: “AP” Acting
Above: Picture are the cast of the One Act Fire Exit. All photos submitted by Steighner.
Lauren Steighner
Every fall, when the school is buzzing with Homecoming, Friday night football, and Halloween plans, there is a small group of students who are gearing up for the hardest performance of their high school years. I am referring to the cast and crew of the One Act.
The One Act is a competitive performance put on by Hamilton Drama. It competes in an almost Forensics-style competition, with the show traveling all over the state and being graded on rubrics.
The rubric is sectioned into four categories: Performance, Direction, Technical, and Ensemble. These categories all have specific subcategories in which the cast and crew are critiqued. As the competition goes on, the difficulty of passing through to the next level increases. Only a few select schools get to compete at state, where they can be nominated for–and potentially win–awards.
The full cast of No Problem pictured here during a performance.
Students can win individual Outstanding Acting Awards, as well as group awards such as Tech, Ensemble, Direction, and Critic’s Choice. Over the past few years at Hamilton, we are proud to say that we have accumulated awards from every category multiple times over. Twice even, we have been presented with every possible award for a single show. These ‘sweeps’ occurred with the shows No Problem (2021) and Fire Exit (2023).
The Hamilton One Acts’ success can be easily attributed to the time and effort these actors and their directors put into this show. Auditions are held in the first week of June, with competition not starting until the end of October. During this time, the actors dive into an almost ‘AP’ level of acting. The shows coined the nickname “AP Acting” from the process in which these actors go through to create their character. This includes script analysis, in-depth research, and many different physical and mental exercises. This process is long and difficult, and the students often craft several different versions of their character before they land on the right interpretation.
Members of the cast of Dreamwalk during a summer rehearsal.
Another reason why these actors spend six months on this script is because of the level of the material. Hamilton High School’s director, Ms. Sarah Plamann, has a knack for picking one acts that are very intense and very emotional. Previous One Act themes include the Holocaust, government experimentation, eating disorders, hallucinations, loss of a classmate, and this year, cancer. So it is very important that we approach these topics with an open mind as well as lots of sensitivity and awareness.
Although this work is long, hard, tedious, and often emotional, it pays off when you are able to convey your emotion to the audience so well that they feel your emotions themselves.
It seems silly to someone who has never experienced it, but seeing a dramatic One Act is truly a unique emotional experience. When you watch TV, the volume and amount of distractions you have will all influence the connection you feel to the piece. But when you are in a theater with nothing distracting you from what is happening mere feet in front of you, it is very different.
Because everyone’s process for finding their character is so different, everyone ends up taking something different out of the experience. We interviewed past members of the One Act about their experiences and takeaways.
What is your favorite memory from One Act?
“Definitely talking to all of the people from different schools who watched our performances. It was cool seeing how our show had an effect on others.” - Cash Campbell, Mirrors (Chip) and Fire Exit (Rudy)
“My favorite memory was when we went to State! It was such a great time to bond with the cast and crew. We got Culvers, saw other shows, competed in Thespies, and crushed our performance!” - Leah Wysocki, Fire Exit (Janice, Ms. Jenkins)
What was the hardest part of the One Act process for you?
“Finding all of the individual tactics in order to get over each of my character’s obstacles. The rehearsals also can get very emotionally challenging- those who have done it, know what I mean- and those are the hardest days of all.” - Campbell
“The hardest part was learning two very different characters. With the amount of analysis and development that you have to do, it was incredibly difficult to do that twice.” - Kendall Syslack, Fire Exit (Helen, Principal Evans)
Why do you think One Act is important?
“It is important because it has such a special meaning to everyone involved. They have so much impact, more than other shows, because of their depth. It’s so impactful to all of the actors.” - Megan Draheim, Fire Exit (Crew) and Dreamwalk (Stage Manager)
“The One Act is so important because it allows actors to put themselves out there. Plamann usually selects pretty deep stories, and we often don’t get to put on shows like that.” - Syslack
“The One Act is important because it greatly improves acting skills. It also is a great way to form close friendships with the other people involved.” - Wysocki
What do you wish other people knew about the One Act?
“People should know how much time goes into putting on a One Act. While the set is often simple, the character development that goes into it, as well as each actor’s process is very extensive.” - Syslack
“The One Act is essentially peak Hamilton theatre. If you want to see the best we have to offer, you need to see the one act. It’s a great representation of Hamilton Drama Society.” - Campbell
If you were to give advice to someone who just got cast in their first One Act, what would you say?
“I would say that a One Act’s process is so different from anything else you will be a part of. Be prepared to put yourself out there; you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” - Syslack
“No matter how well you think you’re doing, WORK HARDER. You have no idea what the road ahead holds, so it’s best to be hungry for success and ready for anything.” - Campbell
These One Acts, while heavy, are so, so, so important. They show horrors that appear in real life, and tell the stories that real people have lived through. So we do these shows because their stories deserve to be told just as much as any other story–if not more.
Hamilton Drama has been putting on these competitive One Acts since 2019. Each show has ended up advancing to state and winning multiple awards. These shows all have grappled with different issues, and all of these actors went through the same process described above.
Below are the most recent Hamilton One Act performances, including a list of the awards earned.
2023 - Fire Exit by Stacy Lents
Everybody at Westfield High School thinks they know what happened the day of the fire. Fire Exit opens in the aftermath, as the community faces what appears to be a prank gone terribly wrong. But as the kids and adults open up about their lives and the bigger picture of the day's events emerges, the truth proves to be far less simple. Told through a series of poignant and often very funny monologues, Fire Exit is a powerful ensemble piece that proves things, and people, aren't always as they seem.
Awards:
Outstanding Technical
Outstanding Direction
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding Acting: Jill Arthur, Cash Campbell, Lauren Steighner, Kendall Syslack, Leah Wysocki
Critic’s Choice
2022 - Mirrors by John O’Brian
Mirrors begins with a man spending an ordinary evening in his ordinary home with his ordinary family. Then a psychiatrist enters. The man, it seems, is not at home but in a hospital. His family, we learn, is dead... or are they? After the doctor leaves, the man's wife returns to ask if he is still fantasizing that his family is dead. His wife, it seems, is real... or is she? When she leaves -- at play's end -- the man and the audience must decide which reality is the real one.
Awards:
Outstanding Technical
Outstanding Direction
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding Acting: Jonathan Steffan, Jill Arthur
Critic’s Choice
2021 - No Problem by S. Fitzgerald, S. Trussell, J. Howard, M. Brogan, K. Dawson, D. Hunt, S. Kofed, and P. Fitzgerald
Welcome to 6th-period English class. The lights go up and we watch high school students struggle with an essay they must write entitled "I Am Addicted To..." Suddenly, the play begins to move fluidly through space and time. It travels from the classroom to Jennifer's bedroom, where she stares at her body in front of a mirror, imagining how she would look if she were thinner; to the fraternity where Paula deludes herself into thinking a college student really cares for her; to Jimmy putting his alcoholic mother to bed; to the locker room where Brian, the star of the football team, wrestles with the loss of the big game; and back to the classroom.
Awards:
Outstanding Technical
Outstanding Direction
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding Acting: Jonothan Steffan, Ava Lally, Eliana Mitchell, Callen Kluender, Shannon O’Dwyer
Critic’s Choice
2020 - An Experiment by Brent Holland
Portrayed in a fantasy world, five confused participants wake up with no memory of their past life, with only one word, a personality descriptor (such as compassionate, courageous or orderly), written in type on their shirts. The doctor explains that each is here willingly, and that they are all being compensated for their participation in a research study. Will the participants’ assigned attribute affect their behavior when under extreme duress? Once the experiment begins, and they find out that to lose is to die, all five do what they must to survive The Experiment.
Awards:
Outstanding Ensemble
Outstanding Acting: Sydney Fenner, Maggie Flynn, Tarynn Lassiter
Critic’s Choice
2019 - I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Celeste Raspanti
Over 15,000 children passed through the gates of Terezin, a concentration camp 30 miles north of Prague. Fewer than 100 survived. I Never Saw Another Butterfly, tells the story of the children of Terezin through the eyes of Raja Englandrova. Raja narrates and tells their story in flashbacks as she learns from Irena Synkova, a teacher who gives the children hope when there is no hope left and gives them the courage to write and draw about their experiences. We see the world of Terezin through their eyes, a world of laughter, of flowers, and of butterflies. From behind the barbed wire fences, teachers and students were able to show defiance. Celeste Raspanti creates a beautiful tribute to the children whose lives were stolen from them during the terrors of the Holocaust.
Awards:
Outstanding Acting: Hayden Hotchkiss, Maggie Flynn
Our current season’s One Act is titled Dreamwalk, and it centers around two teenagers battling cancer. It starts competition in October and will have a performance open to the public on November 25th. Come see the talented Hamilton Drama students perform and expect to leave changed by what you see.
