Three plays might be better than one

WAYLAND — WACO High School offered a completely different kind of spring play experience over the weekend with three short comedies instead of one full-length play.

The student actors and crew showcased talents in blocking, characterizations, lighting, sound, and physical expression as they made their way through three unique short plays.

The high school thespians drew chuckles from the crowd as they began the Spring Play with a dark comedy, “Employees Must Wash Hands Before Murder” by Don Zolidis.

The actors embraced the roles of outrageous characters working at Burgatorium that encounter not only a surprise health inspection, but also a murder investigation.

Thanks to strategic blocking providing terrific height variations on the small stage, the audience could enjoy every fearful, disgusted, and confused look provided by the talented actors.

Lighting choices also helped to convey moments of flashbacks and a stormy setting as the plot began to thicken.

After a 10-minute intermission, the cast returned with just as much energy for their second short play, “The Nine Worst Breakups of All Time” by Ian McWethy.

After the main character, Katie played by Elyssa Graber, suffers from what she thinks is the world’s worst break up, Eve, an employee from the nonprofit company “Relationships for a Better Tomorrow,” played by Jaklyn Cook, takes her on a tour of the nine worst breakups of all time.

Impressively, those acting in the breakup scenes showed great restraint as they held freeze frames while Katie and Eve discussed their breakups.

The cast and crew speedily changed rolling back drops, tables, and coaches to create nine different break up scenes ranging from cave men, to the Civil War, to modern-day breakups.

Following another 10-minute intermission, the cast and crew kept with a romantic theme and returned with the final short play of their comedy set, “How To Ruin Your Promposal” by Whitney Teubner and John Leverett.

Despite the crazy over-the-top promposals happening all around them, Zoe and Brayden, played by Deedra Graber and Tanner Egli, remain determined to stay out of the craziness.

With many more students on stage at a time, the expert blocking from their first piece played an important role.

To stretch their acting space, the cast expanded from the stage.

At one point a small group of cheerleaders even ran in from the back of the gymnasium yelling cheers.

In the space just in front of the official stage, they jumped and cheered for one of the many promposals to take place in this quirky final play.

Many students showed just how much skilled they possessed as they played double duty not only by acting in each of the short plays, but also by acting as multiple characters in the same plays, and it paid off with laughter from the audience.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com