Barbara Lawlor

Nederland

The Nederland Middle Senior High School thespians raised the bar last week with their Fall One-act plays. Each of the performances excelled in the level of acting talent as well as a mastery of the lines and their delivery.

A plethora of younger actors brought an energy and intensity to the performances that raised the bar on fall play expectations. The Nederland community is in for a future of great productions by these kids. Although many of them are just beginning their Nederland stage careers, most of those who performed are already on their way to becoming one of the largest and most talented groups of actors in many years.

One of the most hilarious of the plays, the Friday night presentation of "Skid Marks," highlighted the performers abilities to draw the humor from the lines without overdoing it. Twenty students cavorted on stage, driving their cars and honking their horns.

They presented vignettes of the myriad behind-the-wheel situations that are common on the road: the impatient mom, the zealous student driver, the typical mom and dad in the front and the bored kids in the back, and even the car that makes too much noise.

"And the Giants Fell," spotlighted the heights which a student actor can achieve. Each of the characters told their own story of how they were affected by 9/11. Wives and children begging husbands and fathers not to go, unresolved arguments that hurt forever, people on the plane, on the ground and in the buildings and always the dominant question is "Why?"

Staged simply but powerfully, each of the characters, dressed in black, has their moment in the spotlight, and all of them tell their story with barely controlled emotion that is palpable in the force of their words and intensity.

It was gut wrenching and inspiring, terrible and wonderful, brilliantly performed and intelligently directed by students Hayley Turner and Hattie Bakke.

Other student directors were Mazie Pancoast who directed "It's About Time," Jamie Lammers who directed "The Accident," and Emily Albright and Sasha Godsil who directed "And They All Lived."

All of the NMSHS students who were on the stage and behind the scenes deserve huge congratulations for a job well done.