The Sixth Show: Hilarious One-Acts Dazzle

This show was comprised of four one-acts: “Sixty Second Singles,” “Cut,” “This Is A Test,” and “Competition Piece.”

“Sixty Second Singles” was a speed-dating TV show, where contestants had just sixty seconds to decide whether they wanted to get together. Hosted by Crystal (Ayelet Kaminski ’22), the show was full of unique characters looking for love. Emerson DelMonico ’21 commented, “I play a few different characters and I like how diverse they are. For example, one character is really shy while another has to beat up another character on stage. It’s both fun and challenging to play people with different personalities.”

“Cut” was a chaotic play folded into another play. Characters began the act as one person and became more complex as the story progressed.

In “Competition Piece,” three groups of theater kids got together to prepare a show for a competition. The cast was mainly from the senior class.

Finally, “This Is A Test” highlighted the anxieties of taking a test. In this one-act, Alan, played by Peter Graham ’20, took a test that he had not studied for. Graham shared: “My teachers can attest that I’m a pretty wild test taker, so when I play Alan I’m barely acting! The last couple shows I’ve done I’ve played serious parts, so playing Alan, a comical character, was a nice change of pace.”

This show was added to the repertoire of HDA performances this year. Director Hope Hartup said, “I haven’t done any one-acts for quite some time and so for me, I’d forgotten that they could be so much fun…It is a very inclusive event when so many kids can get together and create something.”

Most actors in this show played multiple characters in different scenes or one-acts. Cast member Drew Slager ’21 said, “I’m in three of the four one-acts, so I play a wide range of different characters. Normally you only create one character’s story for the show you’re in, but creating multiple stories at a time is really interesting because you get to see how the characters overlap.”

This show strayed from the typical theater experience because it wasn’t performed in the Lovell auditorium, or even on a stage. Instead, while the cast and crew of Into the Woods were working in Lovell, The Sixth Show was performed in Upper Heath. Kaminski said, “It’s an intimate experience and it adds some of the comedy because there’s no real division between the audience and the actors.”

The Sixth Show was put together quickly, with only a couple of weeks of rehearsal time. Haniya Farooq ’22 said: “The group of people is really nice and it was a fun show to rehearse because it felt like a real community show.”