CHS students performed “Studio One Acts” Oct. 1 through Oct. 3, and while I found the show funny and entertaining, it did not quite live up to my expectations. The show was comprised of four student-directed one act plays: “Backflip,” directed by senior Madelaine Withers, “The Future is in your Tiny Hands,” directed by senior Kate Milazzo, “Appearances,” directed by senior Haley Glickman and “Arabian Nights,” directed by senior Rachel Glait.

The show opened with “Backflip,” a one-act about a man who feels he is being perpetually watched by a live audience. The main problem with this one-act, in my opinion, was neither the acting nor the directing, but the choice of script. The script had a few funny moments, but overall, it was not a laugh-out-loud piece. A more humorous act might have been better to start the show. Also, junior Chuck Burton, who portrayed Phillip, did not appear to be in his element with this show. I have seen Burton in other productions and been very impressed with his previous performances, but for some reason, this role didn’t seem to quite click with him. He seemed a bit stiff, so the energy he gave off wasn’t quite right, and it threw the audience off a bit. However, senior Christian Viktrup as the psychiatrist gave an impressive performance. The script doesn’t give the psychiatrist much of a personality, and I thought Viktrup did a wonderful job creating a personality for the character himself with the little information he was given. Overall, “Backflip” was rather average, but it gave off an odd energy for the beginning of the show.

Following “Backflip” was “The Future is in your Tiny Hands,” a play about an elementary school class president debate. This was my personal favorite of the four shows, as it had a lot of energy and strong acting. All of the actors on stage did well delivering their parts; there was no apparent weak link. In particular, sophomore Eric Bembenek as Eddie Grantwood stood out as a strong actor. He really portrayed the competitive spirit and childishness of his character, which was funny and worked well. The blocking for this show was also very good, although the marshmallow bag flying in from the side of the stage was a bit out of place. Everything else about this show appeared to be carefully planned and rehearsed, and it definitely paid off from an audience standpoint.

After the intermission was the one-act “Appearances,” a show about a girl trying to find the perfect dress for a party, but annoying the dressing room staff in the process. This show was very cute and, for the most part, well done. Junior Georgia Simmons made the perfect Grace, playing her as very uptight and strict. Freshman Allie Crawford also did a great job as Ivy. She was very impressive at handling physical comedy, and I enjoyed a lot of the character choices she made. There were only a few issues with this show, and they were fairly minor. The first time Ivy stepped into the dressing room to change, it created an awkwardness within the audience because no one was sure what exactly was going to happen, or if she was going to change onstage. Also, the part where Grace and Ivy started dancing was strange and uncomfortable for the audience, because there was no real motive for it in the scene and the audience didn’t know how to react. Other than that, “Appearances” was funny and well-acted.

The final show of the night was “Arabian Nights,” a one-act about a man on a business trip sent into romantic misadventure with a female shopkeeper by a strange interpreter. Junior Jessie Ballard was incredible as the interpreter. She was very funny, over-the-top and had very high energy. The issue with this, though, is that it made the other characters seem rather bland in comparison. While the other characters are supposed to be normal, they were a bit overshadowed by the interpreter, which was not the intention of the scene. In addition, there was some confusion of motive, which was mainly a script issue. There was no motive in the script for the interpreter to throw Norman and Flora together. Also, toward the end, the interpreter got sarcastic and annoyed, seemingly for no reason. However, these seemed to be script issues, so neither the director nor the actors were to blame. Overall, “Arabian Nights” was a very funny and light-hearted one-act.

“Studio One Acts” was, overall, a good collection of shows, but not quite a great one. Each show was good and unique in its own way, but each also had moments that could’ve been improved. However, the show was still amusing and easy to watch, and I enjoyed it despite some shortcomings.