A college party. The energy crisis. A television show. A parody about the Girl Scouts.
Theater students at Briarcliff High School have a lot of say about our society and next Wednesday, on March 26, they will showcase their ideas in 16 original one-act plays at the North Castle Public Library in Armonk.
The one-and-a-half hour staged readings performance will feature five-minute-long plays that are written and performed by students in Jamie Mandel’s Introduction to Theater class and Bear Bones Theater Troupe.
“The subjects run the gamut; some are serious, some are humorous,” said Ms. Mandel who directs the performance, which is produced by Trent Dawson of Katonah Classic Stage. “The students expressed their voices and their feelings in these skits.”
Audrey, a freshman, wrote a play called “USA’s Most Talented.”
“The skit is about a talent show where the winning contestant, who performs a modern song and has a dramatic sob story, competes with the other contestant, who performs a classical song,” she said. “It’s a commentary on how our society does not appreciate classical music as much as popular music and how talent shows always go with the sob story.”
Alivia, a freshman, wrote a parody about the Girl Scouts.
“I wrote a comedic skit about being initiated into a new troop, but the troop is a little obsessed with all things girl scouts,” she said. “It’s based on the Girl Scout traditions that I remember as a young girl: selling cookies, the patches, the friendship bracelets and the pledge. In the play, when a new person joins the troop, they see things from the outside and it’s a bit crazy and way more extreme than a normal girl scout troop that one would expect.”
Zoe, a freshman, wrote a skit in which the characters portray different sources of energy in the United States.
“There’s nuclear energy, coal, mining and fracking, and they are all locked in prison and interact with each other,” she said. “Those interactions change with the changing political landscape that is currently happening in our country.”
Skylar, a junior, wrote “The Middle Child Equation.”
“The skit is about life as a middle child, how you don’t get heard as much and how you don’t always get what you want,” she said. “The younger and older siblings always get what they want, and you are just stuck in the middle.”
Amir, a senior, wrote about a college party.
“In the play, the party gets way too out of control and after the police come, a group of kids at the party have to decide if they should stay or leave,” he said. “It’s really about friends graduating and saying goodbye at the end of the year.”
Brithany, a senior, wrote about criminals and police officers.
“My play is about how criminals think life is so easy and they can just rob banks and steal cars, but it’s also a social commentary,” she said. “The play shows the perspective of police officers and how they arrest people who steal food, but also, it’s about how billionaires can get away with a lot of things and not have to deal with the consequences of their actions. The criminals and the police officers have an encounter, and the skit shows what the criminals have to deal with, and what the police have to deal with.”
The staged readings will take place on Wednesday, March 26 at 7pm at the Whippoorwill Theatre at North Castle Library, 19 Whippoorwill Rd. E, Armonk. Tickets are $10, sold at the door.
