Oakton Drama’s annual Dinner Theatre is one of my favorite school events of the year. Each year, the plays are entertaining and well produced, and this year was no different. The drama department presented four one act plays starring student casts and one student play. The actors and stage crews had about a month to prepare, and executed their performances in a typically wonderful fashion.

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Check for Two, Please

The night of plays started off with a comedy called Check for Two, Please. Anna Gibbons, one of the main characters, said the play was “about a couple that breaks up, played by Liam Klopfenstein and [Gibbons], whose friends convince them to start dating again, and then they both go on a series of bad dates.” The broken up couple jumps into the forum of online dating, and they are truly terrible and hilarious dates. For example, they both go on a date with the same pirate impersonator, and one goes with someone who only speaks in internet slang. Overall, the play was very well acted and the resolution leaves everyone happy with the result. Gibbons said of the play “I was really excited to perform it, we had been working on the show for about a month which is a short time to prepare for a play, but the whole cast worked hard and I think it really paid off in the end.”

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Optics

Optics was an abrupt change of pace from the light-hearted Check for Two. Written by Oakton alumnus Marriya Schwarz,  it tells the story of a girl who has a disease that causes her to gradually go blind. Maggie Klein, who played the doctor, said, “each scene is supposed to be a different stage of grief,shows how the [other] characters, mostly her mom [played by Jess Bice], deal with it.”  What made this play really interesting was the portrayal of the main character and the use of light. The play is performed as a series of monologues, with the audience becoming the main character. The actors talk directly to the audience, who is made part of the show. This only made the use of light more effective and interesting. After each scene, the lights dimmed more and more to represent the progression of the illness. Throughout the play, the actors did an amazing job at portraying the mixture of grief, guilt, and sympathy experienced by the girl’s family. The play was dramatic and a little tragic, but left the audience with hope for the main character by the end. In case you missed the fabulous show, you can catch it being performed at the Virginia High School League competition on Monday (a student holiday) at Herndon High School at 2:10.

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Any Body for Tea?

If you like murder mysteries, you would probably enjoy Any Body for Tea, actually, if you like any type of play you would like Any Body for Tea. This dramedy is the funny story of a group of old women who purposefully commit crimes to  lure a handsome homicide detective to their home. The play is filled with funny moments and plot twists. This play has something for everyone to enjoy, no matter what your tastes are. The actresses playing the old women did a really good job capturing both sides of the characters, the giddy grandmas meeting a handsome man and the grandmas willing to kill their friends to meet him. As the first play after intermission, the cast did a good job of getting the audience invested in the performances again and making the whole auditorium laugh.

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Bob: A Life in 5 Acts

A life in five acts may seem contradictory for the one act play night, but Bob was a great conclusion to the night of drama. As the title suggests, Bob tells the story of the life of Bob, a life filled with hilarious coincidences and situations. It all begins when Bob is born and subsequently abandoned in a White Castle restaurant. After being adopted by one of the employees there, Bob decides that he is going to grow up to do something great. Narrated by Hardship ,Love, Luck, and Hope, the play definitely has its sad moments and its innumerable moments of hilarity, but also has uplifting messages about what greatness can be. The director Finlay Keuster  had the tough task of whittling Bob down from a full play to a single act, and “tried to keep all of the funniest parts”. He appears to have been successful as the audience was laughing nearly the whole way through. Bob left the whole audience in good spirits and inspired at the conclusion of the Dinner Theatre.

If you’re sorry you missed the Dinner Theatre, you can support the Drama Department  by going to Oakton Drama’s production of Les Miserables, running in May.