Northwest PA Collegiate Academy returns to stage, live audiences with 'One-Act Plays'
After school on a Thursday afternoon, 15 students gathered in the auditorium of Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy to rehearse nine short plays for the high school's upcoming performance, “An Evening of One-Act Plays 2021.”
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Three actors stood onstage in front of a park bench, one holding an umbrella and a suitcase. In front of the stage, Collegiate Academy theater director Rich Tryzbiak gave notes to the actors, and then one of the five student assistant directors gave notes as well. Some students who were not in the current scene sat in the front few rows watching their friends rehearse, while others ran lines with each other in the adjacent hallway. Doors to and from backstage opened and closed as students went in and out of the auditorium, some even trying to squeeze in a little homework during their downtime.
In other words, it was a completely normal high school theater rehearsal. This is especially meaningful for students at Collegiate Academy, who have not staged a theatrical performance since before the COVID-19 shutdown in March of 2020.
“An Evening of One-Act Plays 2021” marks Collegiate Academy’s official return to theater. While many high schools gave small performances to limited audiences or streamed performances during the 2020-21 school year, those in the Erie School District had remote instruction for the majority of the school year and thus Collegiate students were not in the building long enough to stage a play by alternative delivery methods.
Now they’re back, and the students could not be happier.
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“It’s like the return of our school spirit because we’re really well known for our theater department here, and seeing that come back is really impactful,” said River McFadden, a sophomore actor.
That's not only for those involved in the production, but also for the student body at large who want to come out to support their classmates.
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“Since a large part of our student body has not had the chance to attend a live theatrical production for two years, we have decided to offer the performance without an admission charge,” Tryzbiak said. “We want to encourage our students to experience live theater.”
The show is open to the public and audiences will be able to social distance in the spacious Collegiate Academy auditorium. Everyone in attendance is required to wear masks, including the cast and crew. Actors will perform in clear masks so their facial expressions will be visible.
“An Evening of One-Act Plays” comprises nine 10-minute plays, most of them humorous, some akin to a comedy sketch. Amanda Ross is especially funny, playing a woman meeting with a funeral director to try and lock in prices for the future deaths and burials of her and her husband Jonathan in “For All Eternity.”
But most importantly, it is a valuable experience for the students involved. Miles Stokes comes to the show as a ninth-grader still getting used to in-person school after an online eighth grade.
“I definitely feel like I’ve made a lot of friends and acquaintances (working on the play), because I was always a quiet person, and it’s nice getting to be with other people who are like me,” Stokes said.
“An Evening of One-Act Plays 2021” runs this Friday and Saturday and Nov. 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. in the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy auditorium at 2825 State St. Admission is free, but donations to the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy Theatre Department will be welcomed at the door.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Northwest PA Collegiate Academy theater students to perform 'One-Act Plays'
