For a night of fun and laughter, Haddonfield Memorial High School’s Drama Club will be hosting “A Night of Comedy.” On Oct. 16, 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m., the high school will present three one-act plays that are sure to get the audience laughing. The plays include “This is a Test” by Stephen Gregg, “The Actor’s Nightmare” by Christopher Durang, and “Four Little Words” by Edward Finnegan.
Heather Vaughn will be making her debut as a director at HMHS. She was the assistant director for last year’s “Grease,” but now she is trying on a larger hat. Vaughn has a background in theater, so she isn’t completely unprepared. She has even directed some of these plays before, one doing well in a competition. Vaughn wanted to give Haddonfield a night of laughter, so she chose to do these comedies.
“I like these three plays because each of these plays will speak to people in the audience because they have all been there,” Vaughn said.
Starting off the night will be “This is a Test.” In the play, the main character, Alan, played by Jimmy Atkinson, goes into a test unprepared. He didn’t get the review sheet; he didn’t study the right things; his classmates are cheating; and the icing on the cake is the test is an all-important one that could decide his future.
“We have all been through the testing, we’ve all seen people cheat on a test. And it doesn’t matter that it takes place in a high school, it can be even in your adult life,” Vaughn said.
The second play, “The Actor’s Nightmare,” is a coined phrase, according to Vaughn. It means that anytime you have a dream for something you are not prepared for, it is the actor’s nightmare. In this case, “The Actor’s Nightmare” is about an actor who doesn’t remember or even know his lines. In this play within a play, the main character, George, played by Patrick O’Malley, is thrown into all of these plays he doesn’t know the lines for or doesn’t even know the plays. The plays he is thrown into include “Private Lives,” “Hamlet” and more.
“Everyone has had a dream like that. Big presentation, big test, something big coming up and in this dream you are not ready for this event or you don’t have the right outfit on. We’ve all been there. The whole thing with this play is that everyone will empathize with the lead character because they’ve all been there,” Vaughn said.
The final play, “Four Little Words,” is a farce about a director, also played by Patrick O’Malley, who is trying to find the perfect actress to say just four words in his play. The director is looking for a specific person, but he has a hard time doing so. Actresses of all kinds audition for the part, including a child prodigy, an early century diva and a foreign girl.
“The audience will be able to relate to many of the characters. They will be impressed with the kids’ performances. They will be able to laugh and enjoy themselves for the evening and go home with a smile on their face,” Vaughn said.
The students of HMHS worked hard on all of the plays. They had to learn about the literary references within the plays, do character analyses and more in preparation for the night. They love being on stage and performing, so they would love a great turnout for the play.
Tickets are $10. Students can purchase tickets during their lunch periods. Tickets are also available to buy at the main office or at the door the night of the plays.
