On Saturday, February 4, the Highland Park Drama Club held its annual One Acts production. This collection of entirely student-written and student-directed short plays was dubbed Channel Surfing due to the premise that each play was a different “channel” the audience tuned into, as if they were watching TV.
Channel Surfing’s first “channel” was “America College,” written by Kai Stevens, following prospective students at a college information session. The students quickly learn through extreme remarks from the facilitators that to America College, money and prestige mean more than education and consideration for one another.
“Adventure of Pighland Hark” by Kaya Sukhdeo, staged like a session of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, explored Pighland Hark: Town of Crime as two travelers try to return a kidnapped girl to her father. Upon tracking her down, however, the adventurers discover that the distressed “father” was actually the girl’s ex-boyfriend.
The setting of the comedy “Paper Cuts” by Adrian Schilling was right out of The Office. Adam, a new hire as a paper salesman, is challenged to a duel by fellow employee and medieval knight Sir Favian. Refusing to take no for an answer, Favian slays Adam with his sword, leaving the other office workers to clean up the mess.
“Thank Me for Giving” by Ellie Beyer satirizes humanitarianism as a way to bolster reputation. Over Thanksgiving dinner, family members try to one-up each other on who is a “better person,” despite the main character trying to point out the ridiculousness of it all.
These plays and several others contributed to Channel Surfing garnering greater attendance than any past One Acts production, according to online records. This is the second show of the school year to break a ticket-selling record after Alice in Wonderland’s massive success. The Drama Club’s final production of the school year, Newsies: The Musical, is on May 5 and 6 at 7:00 PM and May 7 AT 5:00 PM. See further details and updates on the Highland Park Drama Club by visiting their website, hpdrama.net.