Stunning Cabin of Youth one act keeps audience in stitches

by Isabella Mahal

Written by Fossil Ridge High School sophomore Parker Bennett and directed by seniors Caroline Frevert and Paige Otto, Cabin of Youth was an iconic performance. The one act was described by narrator Tom Houser as a “charmingly raunchy teenage sex comedy that actually holds a great deal of emotional weight at the end” and that’s exactly what is was. It was staged just twice for the public, on January 27 and 28, and Bennett’s three words to sum up his creation were “Over. The. Top.” He explained that, “a lot of the one acts I watched at school and other theaters all seemed to follow the same beat and make the same jokes, so I  really tried to write something that made fun of those by playing them to the extreme.”

While the crude jokes and laughable stereotypes may have been numerous, they certainly never felt forced. The audience was laughing from the moment Grant Deluca entered the stage as Simon, a goth teenager with spiky black hair and lines like, “this place tends to grow on you like fungi or parental disappointment.”

A family emergency meant that Bennett himself had to step into the lead role of Brett, an archetypal dumb jock who fist bumped his “bros” and was out to get the girl. The other  characters were the rest of your cliché college students, straight out of an 80s movie and all finding themselves on a camping trip in an old cabin in Chickwaw National Park. Ted, played by sophomore Austin Hand, was a nondescript high schooler who was left to carry the bags and subjected to Brett’s verbal abuse. His sister Lindsay, senior Jordan Hughes, played the blonde cheerleader who vied for Brett’s attention and barely acknowledged Ted’s existence. Tina, sophomore Maria Cuddemi, was their nerdy sidekick who desperately wanted to make out with Ted, and junior Grant DeLuca rounded out the squad as Simon.

Lindsay and Tina become locked in a feud to “win their man”, and Tina embodied the girl in all of us who kicks boys because she doesn’t understand them and then curls up in a ball and cries. Her quiet sounds and loud sobbing fits were theatrical and hilarious, relatable and believable. The poor girl tried to seduce Ted with such lines as, “you, me, some sexy archaeology”, accompanied by shimmying, to no avail.

When the gang, who we are assured by Tina are all twenty-one years of age, gets drunk while playing strip poker, Brett accidentally pees on an ancient warrior’s grave. Then, an ominous thunderstorm begins and Brett and Lindsay disappear into the bedroom.

The story was interspersed with darkness, in which sophomore Tom Houser walked onstage as the narrator to set the scene. Bennett masterfully cracked the fourth wall as Houser revealed that he himself was the playwright, and ordered his stagehands to stay out of his precious characters’ ways. Soon after the rain begins, one of the stagehands is stabbed before the audience’s eyes.

From that point, the plotline is deceptively complicated by the emotional connections between characters. Lindsay is killed by the masked ancient warrior, brought back from the dead by Brett’s disrespect. Rather than falling apart, the rest of the group actually bands together and has a sweet group hug meant to dispel any more action. That’s when the police bust through the door, junior Anna Taylor as Sheriff Magnum and sophomore Amelia Overholt as Deputy Blubberboat.

The action dissolves into an array of stabbings, slow motion cleaver dodges, and droll comments by Simon, who somehow manages to avoid moving an inch. Characters dash around the stage until the culminating moment, when Ted shoots the demon through the head with a nerf gun to save Brett’s life. The happy ending that ensues is well earned for the characters, remaining stagehand, and narrator, who all realize that they should just put aside their differences and be friends after all.

The one act was pulled off with great precision, somehow feeling reasonable despite the immense number of dirty jokes and random occurrences. There were several deep comments on real world issues, such as when Lindsay says she’s still drunk as Brett leads her into the bathroom and he replies, “that’s preferred.” Though the theme may not have been overly mature at face level, Cabin of Youth actually tackled a great deal of high school issues and controversial topics. Hats off to Bennett, Frevert, and Otto for pulling off such a different performance than one would expect to see.

Bennett is a finalist in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts High School Playwriting Competition for another of his one acts. When asked what he learned from this production, he stated that, “giving off something that you’ve written or conceived is one of the most scary and amazing experiences.” This certainly won’t be the last performance featuring Fossil’s up and coming actors, and you can be sure that we’ll be seeing at least some of their names in lights.

Superheroes makes the crowd soar up, up and away

Superheroes: With great power comes ordinary responsibility gives us a new respect for the ordinary students at Fossil Ridge High School who do amazing things. This one act was written by Ian McWethy and directed by senior Alyssa Baechle. It was performed on January 26 and 27 in the black box at 7pm. This hilarious comedy was brought to life by the wonderful cast and colorful humor.

This one act took audiences into the mundane aspect of super heroes lives when they aren’t out saving the world. It featured some of our very favorite superheroes including Hawkeye, Superman, the Green Lantern, Storm, the Hulk, Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. The tone of this one act was set by Hawkeye, played by sophomore Parker Bennett, as he gives a funny yet frustrated monologue expressing the frustrations of superheroes when they aren’t being super. Bennett delivered this monologue wonderfully with a combination of physical humor, well delivered lines, and contagious energy.

This monologue was followed up by his fellow superheroes struggling through the stressful situations that everyone encounters. Clark Kent (Superman) played by Jack Kraus loses his job which while being completely relatable for the audience was also lightened by the fact that he was being fired because everyone knows he is Superman. Poking fun at the thing we have all thought which is “how do people not know he is superman? His disguise is literally a pair of glasses.” made the scene enjoyable for the audience.

Batman, played by Bryce Henry, was a frequently occurring character. His surprise entrances really made the character. Especially the first time when the audience was completely not expecting Batman to storm into the room demanding his dry cleaning. Henry’s character and the way he portrayed it showed the boredom that superheroes felt between acts of heroism. The ‘normal’ people in the scenes even talked about Batman needing a hobby because of his clear lack of something to do since there were no cats stuck in trees or purses being snatched.

There was one purse snatching and the first hero on the scene, while not being well known ,was definitely the most humorous character. Played by Tyler Zuschneid, Aquaman was a lovable, tights-wearing hero who stole the role of comic relief in this one act. Zuschneid’s use of voice inflection in the delivery of his cheesy lines made every one liner a laughable experience for the audience.

And where would the superheroes be without their underappreciated side kicks? A sidekick support group featured Ron Stoppable, Ron Weasley, Robin, and a collection of others. Robin, played by Christian Opper, gave a reflective monologue on the life of a sidekick and what happens when a hero out grows them. This monologue may have been talking about heroes and sidekicks but it also was a touching monologue as students begin contemplating life after high school.

None of these characters would have been made super were it not for the talented students playing the very relatable, regular people. From nerds to bosses to superhero enthusiasts they were the perfectly relatable characters that reflected the hopes and wishes of the average person. Superheroes really hit home in their loveable, relatable characters that had the audience coming back for another super performance.

Alice takes the audience into wonderland

Alice in Wonderland written by Jazon Pizzarello and directed by senior Elizabeth Woolner showed in the black box on January 26 and 28. This was a difficult one act to tackle,  but the director and cast did an amazing job bringing Wonderland to life. Everything from the two Alices to the talking flowers, Wonderland was truly as quirky as audiences imagined.

This one act followed Alice down the rabbit hole and into a strange place called Wonderland. Elizabeth required a creative and colorful cast to portray the strange Wonderland characters. No one would argue that the show was cast just right and all the cast members were able to portray a wide range of iconic characters.

Alice was played by Mabry Keil and the second Alice was played by Morgan Schramm. The uncanny resemblance between the two girls allowed for the audience to be just as confused and intrigued as the first Alice. Both girls captured the curious girl with just the right amount of manners and intrigue. Keil played the Alice that takes the audience through Wonderland and all the while Schramm played Alice only a step ahead of Keil. By the end the two girls have met and Keil delivers a monologue asking an essential question that all teens have asked: “who am I?”

Along her way Alice encounters many iconic characters including the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Caterpillar, and the Queen of Hearts. It cannot be overstated just how bizarre the characters are. The cast brought them to life and made them very real for the audience. One of the best scenes was the ‘mad tea party’ featuring Ryan Clark as the Mad Hatter who played the part perfectly. In addition to his big out of the box thinking that Alice can scarcely keep up with, he also maintained some level headedness. Lucas Feuer played several different characters in this one act. One of them was the Dormouse at the mad tea party. This character was very different than the flustered white rabbit or the zen caterpillar, and all of them were portrayed with great skill.

In order to paint the roses red there also had to be some talking flowers in the mix. A handful of beautiful ladies including Autumn Gooseff, Claire Paquette, Sophie Contino, and Orla McGrath made a beautiful garden for Alice to stroll through. And let’s not forget the smile that put Alice in Wonderland on the map. The Cheshire Cat was played by Abby Meyer and what a slippery, curious character she was. Her appearances (and disappearances) were definitely a thing to watch for from the audience.

Cole Shortridge and Andrew Meadows brought Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and their energetic relationship to life. They encounter Alice and are their own blunt, energetic selfs. Shortridge and Meadows did a great job and played off each other so well which really captivated the audience. And of course no story would be complete without a king and queen. The Queen of Hearts played by Megan Bean known for her iconic screaming of “off with his head!” completed the crazy journey through Wonderland by landing Alice in court. Of course every queen has a king so the King of Hearts played by Caleb Martin was the comedy to the queen’s fury. The courtroom banter brought a complicated and yet entertaining end to this very challenging, very creative one act.

None of these one acts could have been made possible without the hard work of the students behind the scenes. The stage managers for these shows were Rory Van Lieu (Alice in Wonderland), Mariah Baechle (Superheroes), and Kathryn Bates (Cabin of Youth). Lieu and Bates were also the technical directors for their respective shows and Katie Plese was the tech director for Superheroes. The costumes were put together by Mollie Beck and Nikki Haabestad, which for Alice in Wonderland was no easy feat. The sound was operated by Preston Oppenheimer, and the stagehands included Katie Plese, Will Schmitz, Leo Weakland and Adam Howard. The diverse and beautiful makeup from the delicate makeup for the Queen of Hearts to the sharp, angular, very green face of the Hulk was made possible by Maria Passantino, Alyssa Ankey, Ciera Dykstra, Carli Cobaugh, Maddie Fink, and Maddie Grigg.