You need to see the Winter One Acts at ACHS
A raspy Jennifer Coolidge. A waffle-themed rap group. A stuck-up French painter named Victor Ban Joe. All come together in “Off Script,” an improvised one-act created, acted and directed by drama students at American Canyon High School.
The play is part of the school’s Winter One Acts series, which includes a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The Winter One Acts run Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
“Off Script” is set up like a variety show within a play within a play. The story is told through scenes from a talk show called “Unfiltered,” which features two hosts, Avery and Jessie, played by Carmen Morgan and Amara Esguera, who nail the part of bumbling, peppy presenters. Between improvised ads, the show’s guest couch features a rotating cast of characters and salacious gossip — historic ghost feuds, a waffle-pancake affair, Jason Momoa’s wig and a celebrity crush on Jack Black.
We already knew ACHS drama students were funny. Their latest show locks in that reputation. A word of advice: Get your tickets for both days, since you can be sure to expect the unexpected.
The play could have come out a ball of chaos — it’s written by all 20+ students of Drama II and largely unscripted — but these are pros, most of them longtime theater students under the tutelage of drama teacher Summer Heartt. “Off Script” is hilarious, with good pacing and skilled lighting and sound effects. Plus, the show is clearly as much fun for the actors as it is for the audience.
The story and production come together so well largely thanks to the show’s three student directors: Lorraine Galvan, Frankie Arenas and Jillian Egargin, all seniors and four-year drama students. Instructor Summer Heartt’s involvement was largely as an adviser. “She stepped back and just watched us,” said Galvan. “She let us take over — but she’s still our teacher.”
The trio likens “Off Script” to a Jimmy Fallon-esque talk show. According to Egargin, having the show be mostly improvised was an intentional choice: partly to accommodate the range of ideas and partly as a challenge to the cast and the viewers.
“It was interesting because everyone had so many ideas it was hard to combine them all together,” said Egargin. “The moral was — instead of being used to something every single time, you change to be open to something new.”
For Egargin, drama is “a second home,” where she’s learned to embrace change.
Arenas agreed. His four years in theater, he said, “has given me a place to escape to. I feel free to be myself.” That’s a feeling he wants others to experience too. With “Off Script,” he hopes to “challenge you to step outside boundaries.”
Eventually, he said, he hopes to help inspire younger generations to challenge themselves and tap into their talents.
At Wednesday’s dress rehearsal, it was crunch time. The three directors didn’t mince any words giving feedback to the cast. About 20 minutes in, Galvan stopped the play, reminding everyone that the play was in two days.
In one scene, Jessie, a host of “Unfiltered,” cries. At rehearsal, Galvan found the cry too shrill. “Instead of being a baby that dropped its ice cream — bring it down,” she advised, to laughs. Victor Ban Joe, played with comic ease by Lorenzo Servente, was advised to sneeze with his mustache. The curtains closed and the play started again from the top.
“It’s hard to direct people,” said Galvan, who added that it can be awkward telling her own peers what to do. But, she said, “At the end of the day, we are the directors and what we say is final say.
“It’s all improv,” said Galvan. “We have a concept, and then each character puts their character into the concept. It’s a little different each time because of that.”
Arenas nodded. “I really understand what Ms. Heartt goes through now,” he said. “I already had respect for her, but now I know what she’s doing and what she puts into it.”
Heartt is proud of her protégés. “The students have taken full ownership of their productions. I could not be more proud,” she said.
ACHS Winter One Acts “Off Script” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” run for two nights at the ACHS theater at 3000 Newell Drive and online Friday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. Buy tickets here.
