By MITCHELL PEARL
This coming weekend, Otter Valley Union High School welcomes Walking Stick Theatre Company’s annual production of short plays (also known as “The One-Acts”). Jeffrey Hull, Otter Valley’s theatre director, started these productions 25 years ago to let students learn the art of directing. Over the years, Otter Valley’s Walking Stick Theatre group has presented a program of short plays directed by, and often written by, the students. This is the fifth year that the student directors all wrote their own plays, a practice that started during the pandemic. Seeing the student-written plays provides a good reflection of the students’ world views, their interests, and what they find entertaining.
Five student-written and -directed plays will be presented. “Mildly Brunette” is written and directed by Jordan Bertrand and Kaylee Maloy. It is a parody of “Legally Blonde”—the musical was presented by Otter Valley’s Walking Stick Theatre some years ago—that contains original music. “Backstage Magic: The Tech Crew Chronicles” is a backstage comedy written and directed by Andrew Easter. “Helen Keller & the Infinity Series” is an “incorrect” history of Helen Keller written and directed by Calvin Ladd, Brendan McLoughlin, and Ian Miner. “Unlucky Break,” written and directed by Emil Dardozzi and Oliver Lavelle, follows the antics of three “unlucky” prisoners trying to break jail. Finally, “The Real Lives of Maple Leaf Theatre” is a reality TV show take on high school theatre. It is a funny, dramatic comedy written and directed by Sophie Moore and Elyse Singh.
The only play to be presented that is not written by a student is the festival piece, to be presented at Vermont’s regional drama festival, and directed by theatre director Jeffrey Hull. This year, the festival piece will be “Queens,” a play by acclaimed playwright Kristen Doherty. Like the Broadway musical “Six,” this play presents a fictionalized approach to the story of the six wives of Henry VIII, but from the wives’ point of view. In “Queens,” King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory, bound to his throne, and forced to relive the sins he committed against his queens.
Director Hull notes that this play calls for strong acting: “It is dramatic, fantastical, emotional, and visual.” The six queens are played by Jordan Bertrand, Sophie Moore, Elyse Singh, Dani Polli, Kaylee Maloy, and Alyssa Raymond. In “Queens,” Henry VIII also has an important role, played in purgatory by Brendan McLaughlin and in the dream sequences by Calvin Ladd. The period costumes are fantastic.
“An Evening of Short Plays” will be presented on the Otter Valley stage on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are five dollars and are available at the door, or in advance at https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/otter-valley-union-high-school-rnesu.
Otter Valley’s festival piece will also be shown on March 25 at the regional drama festival, this year at Mill River Union High School. The regional festivals offer the opportunity for OV’s students to meet like-minded students from other schools, see their productions, and compete for a chance to go on to larger festivals. In some years, Otter Valley’s Walking Stick Theatre has gone on to perform at the Vermont State Drama Festival and at the New England Festival. They have also participated with the American High School Theatre festival at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
An Evening of Short Plays
