Mid-winter one act festival encourages local teens

By Neil Ruecker

This weekend the Schoolhouse Arts Center will host its annual Mid-Winter One Act Festival. It will feature two original plays created by USM students. The first one-act is titled “The Mountain”, a poignant tale of self-discovery. The second is “The Fairy Tale Unit”, a hilarious parody of TV police detective programs that will keep you laughing. The plays will be directed by talented local performer and musician Zachariah Stearn and performed by a dozen of Schoolhouse’s Black Box Teens.

The Schoolhouse has many roles in the community. But the most important of them is to provide a safe and nurturing place where young people can explore the experience of performing on live stage. This is more than just giving them a chance to be actors. It is about building self-confidence, enabling them to overcome their fears by performing before an audience, and finding their own self-assurance.

These are skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, no matter what paths they may pursue. The results will go far beyond the quality of the performance that they present. It is a growth opportunity for the young performers that cannot be underestimated. These kids have worked long and hard preparing to present these one-acts. This is your opportunity to enjoy two entertaining original plays and help foster progress of young performers on the black box stage.

The Schoolhouse has dedicated their Black Box Theater to be a platform where new performers, directors, and technical teams can learn and build new skills in theater and in life.  In the Black Box they can learn how to work side-by-side as a team to develop a common vision and bring it to fruition.  They learn leadership skills and how to take direction.  And they find within themselves new skills, new talents, and the excitement of new successes. 

The One Act Festival will be presented on Saturday January 19 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, January 20 at 2 pm. You can see the one-acts at the Schoolhouse Arts Center, 16 Richville Rd. / route 114 in Standish (7 miles north west of downtown Gorham or North Windham). Adult tickets are $12. 

Reservations can be made by visiting their website at www.schoolhousearts.org.  Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy two original short plays and support the personal growth of some of our community’s brightest young people.