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Drama Lab’s one acts illuminate the Salter

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Priscilla Hopper staff writer
The latest projects assigned to the Drama Lab students included writing and directing their own scripts which were performed on March 30 in the Salter Theater.
Mirrors
Mirrors was written by sophomore Izabella Paz and directed by junior Elianna Litov. The story revolves around four aspiring ballerinas each obsessed with their physical appearances.The stigma of being a perfect, skinny dancer becomes too difficult to live with as they individually breakdown. After discovering the effects of extreme malnutrition, the girls were pushed to self diagnose themselves as anorexic and bulimic.
Junior Jessica Sater’s character was the most relatable for any teenager. Her passion for dancing overpowered her desire to be a boney ballerina like the other girls, similar to the pressure any teenage, growing girl faces while comparing themselves to someone else. Junior Nikki Musighi’s emotionally evoking speech impacted the entire audience; everyone attending had goosebumps. The same effect brushed over the audience during Cassandra’s (sophomore Caroline German) realization of the violent journey she and her friends had forced on their bodies.
Lolli
Written by sophomore Juliette Collette and directed by junior Shereen Kheradyar, this mini-play displays an exceptional portrayal of finding love in a hopeless place. Henry Segal (junior Thomas Goolsby) and Lolli (sophomore Izabella Paz) meet in an unexpected setting of a rundown bar. After running away from home, Segal searches for anything that could help his act of rebellion.
With Goolsby’s effortless swagger and Paz’s kind charm, the pair’s banter was sweet and filled with shy greetings. Collette’s script was told with strong acting and a simple storyline.
The story ended with Goolsby’s character being hauled away by the police. This shocked the audience almost as much as it shook Lolli. The Salter felt the agony of Segal and Lolli’s separation which tied the tragedy together. 
This is Awkward
Written by junior Nikki Musighi and directed by sophomore Clara Grusq, this short includes a dinner scene that ends with an unimaginable turn. The story features two families who are intertwined in all the wrong ways. Pamela (sophomore Angela Braun) and Frank (sophomore Jacob Rodier) are tangled in a sticky love affair, sinful, yet common, but their case is especially complicated due to their children dating.  
Although a common topic, the written and acted execution was clean and unique, filled with sexual innuendos and hilarious pauses. Each character seemed written for their corresponding actor, which made the act all the more enjoyable. Musighi’s humorous personality is flawlessly expressed in every slightly uncomfortable yet amusing conversation.
Sophomore Andrew Liner’s banter with the bubbly junior Jessica Sater was perfectly paired with the commentary from the closeted gay brother, junior Daniel Breslavsky. Each actor had fantastic timing and sarcastic facial expressions.
Stage Plight
This act was written by junior Jessica Sater and directed by sophomore Adora Dayani. Sophomore Juliet Collette plays Frankie, a stage manager facing every possible phenomenon that could go wrong during a production. Head over heels for Dallas (sophomore Andrew Liner), her clumsy attempt to stay organized amongst the mess results in an accidental love confession.
Liner perfectly acts as an over-achieving actor in their school play. His comedic facial expressions and vivid tone was perfectly captured with his performance. Collette’s charisma is illustrated with her innocent attitude as Craig, Sophomore Eugene Vizel, practically forced the audience into laughter with his ridiculous stretches and entertaining realization of his sexuality. The audience roared in laughter as the characters were illustrating their disaster of a play. This well accomplished short kept a smile on the crowd’s faces throughout the show.
This year’s new drama teacher, Kaz Chandler has added new, important assignments to the Drama Lab classes, like this one. The overall lesson of writing and directing one’s own play is an extremely important asset to achieve while enrolled in a drama class such as Drama Lab. The students involved in the project truly showed their expressive abilities through their writing and directing skills. Drama Lab will present an improvisational show on May 24 and the advanced theater group, Theater Arts Workshop, is putting on Oh My Goddess on May 12 and 13.

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