The cast of the One Act began practices the week of September 20th and are planning to perform on the 10th of November in the East High auditorium. Theatre is a unique activity that benefits students in high school and beyond.

Theatre is an activity that allows students to portray another person and develop their confidence in public speaking. Sponsor, Melissa Walburn, “…I think a big part of it is if you’re an actor those speaking skills…”, Sponsor Melissa Walbrun said, “Just the responsiveness, how to read a room, the idea of waiting for emotion or how to play emotion…and beyond that it really helps foster creativity…”

In case you are unfamiliar with the one act, it is a piece taken from the original play. The one act is scored on voice characterization, ensemble, timing, overall effectiveness, staging, and overall effect. There is a scale to determine the final rating of the show. The group will receive either a good, excellent, or superior (best possible) rating based on their total number of points gained through the 7 categories. This is how the Nebraska School Activities Association conducts scoring and ultimately finds the winner. East typically does well in the categories of volume and delivery of lines as well as ensemble work. An area the group is looking to improve in is the staging and blocking.

The group will be performing a piece of James and the Giant peach. The story is quite successful not only as a broadway play but also as a novel and major motion picture. The basic storyline is centered around an orphaned boy, James who lives with his 2 cruel aunts. Throughout the plot, James befriends several bugs who live in the giant peach. Together they embark on a journey to New York city rediscovering happiness.

This year’s cast is diverse in grade with 12 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 7 juniors, and 7 seniors. Even with such a spread across the grade levels East is considered to have a special chemistry. “It’s still really new,” junior Aderha Leypoldt said. “I hope the cast gets really close and becomes a cute little family but I’m excited to get to know everyone because there’s a lot of freshmen in the show this year…” Leydpolt has been cast as the lead role James, and has roughly 60 lines. Leydpolt is fully committed to the role even with the nerves it entails.“I definitely have stage fright but it’s not as bad when you’re acting as another character because the audience doesn’t know who you are,” Leydpolt admits. “They don’t know your personality so you are like fully a different person.”

The one act group has goals beyond just state. “I think our goals are really to bring people into our organization…” Walburn said. “…We really wanted to pick a show that had a big cast but also a show that has a lot of good technical elements so that way we can bring lots of new people into the program and help them find a home and a place where they can succeed and feel empowered in whatever skills they have.”