Have you bought your Thespian Shows ticket yet?

Better hurry, North High’s annual Thespian Shows are only in a few days!

The Thespian Shows are comparable to the “One Acts” in middle school, where the performances are not full stories, but rather short acts. The main difference is that Thespian Shows are run by student directors. This means that your typical production leaders like Ms. Meredith and Ms. Haase are less involved in the show, and let certain students (usually seniors) manage their own acts alone.

This year’s Thespian Shows, “I’m Afraid That’s All the Time We Have,” features six different acts. Quick summaries of each act can be found below.

How to Kiss a Girl (directed by Freddy Sion) is about a teenager dealing with his first date. It is a comedy that plays off the awkwardness and relatability of being young and looking for love. The twist is that the Ken, the protagonist, uses his phone to obtain dating advice from the 50’s, which adds a chaotic yet hilarious effect to the act.

CAST: Adam Sanders, Rachel Schlusselberg, Ashley Schlusselberg, Nerissa Ng, Angelina Dayani, Dana Livian, Jonathan Kirshner, Steffano Diaz, Leeor Elias, Yuval Ambalo, Chloe Heiden, Kelly Chau, Sahar Tartak

Freddy Sion has a deep relationship with the Thespian Shows. He describes his first Thespian Show as a significant shift within his life. Sion was a shy kid in school, but learned how to come out of his shell and open up once he began acting. “It was awe inspiring,” Sion said. “I felt so close and connected with my cast, and at the same time I improved and changed from that moment. Since then my life has been different, and I truly wanted to direct in order to provide others with the same experience I had.”

How to Kiss a Girl will be showing on Thursday April 11th, and Friday April 12th.

The Fight for the First Flute (written and directed by Molly Rackso) is a comedy and murder mystery centered around two detectives and a flute ensemble. The night before, the former first flautist was killed after the spring concert ended – now it’s up to a pun-loving detective and her exasperated colleague to figure out who did it, with three other flautists and the conductor as suspects.

CAST: Ben Cohen (assistant director), Naomi Hazan, Isabella Dayani, Jason Beeferman, Halle Schatz, Alex Mousazadeh, Michelle Zeng, Josh Namigohar

Molly Rackso will be directing a show for the first time this Thespian Show, but she has been involved in the cast and crew of 23 total productions. She’s been through it all, the struggles of memorizing lines, the grueling hours or rehearsal, and the frustration that sometimes comes with difficult cast members. However, she sees these hardships as a part of the learning process, and understands how to work past them. “Even though it feels a bit strange, I’m really thrilled about all of this,” Molly said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, especially considering that I wrote my show – I don’t have a way to know how an audience will take it, or whether they’ll like it – but nerves are normal for any production, and honestly half the fun. All the work and anticipation make the show that much more rewarding when it finally goes up.”

The Fight for the First Flute will be showing on Thursday, April 11th, and Saturday, April 13th.

Appropriate Audience Behavior (directed by Rayna Cooke) is the story of two girls who go to see a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Unfortunately, wherever they sit down in the theater, they encounter annoying, obnoxious, and crazy seat neighbors who ruin the magic of live theater.

CAST: Maytal Reiss (assistant director), Misha Kibkin, Niki Kobrick, Hemda Niknam, Preston Chan, Shana litt, Samantha Becker, Emma Young.

Rayna Cooke is a little theater obsessed. She has acted in about 15 shows, and participated in stage crew for about 20 shows. She is also President of Improv Club, and hopes to be involved with theater in college. This year’s Thespian Shows will not be her first time directing a show. She wrote and directed “Lost in Translation” at the Levels Teen Center two years ago. “But quite honestly,” Cooke said, “I’m very insecure of my directing ability. I worry that I’m not giving good enough directions or that I’m too disorganized. Thankfully, I have an amazing cast full of talented actors, and I think we all work very well together. Overall I’m very proud of all we accomplished and I hope I’ve done a good enough job to help them improve their acting.”

Appropriate Audience Behavior will be showing on Thursday April 11th, and Friday April 12th.

First Past the Post (directed by Samuel Calto) is the story of Lucy Jackson, who is a normal high school student that attends Realtown High. After a disastrous fencing competition, local dictator Princess Priscilla Smith has dropped the entire team, including her. But with elections around the corner, Lucy and her friend Will plan to kick the Princess out and win the popular vote.

CAST: Riley Boker (assistant director), Michelle Goh, Aliza Fine, Madison Kokhavim, Shezain Dhawan, Adi Elkarat, Arabella Notar-Francesco, Noah Young, Ilana Cooke

Samuel Calto has been involved in a large variety of productions, from plays, to musicals, to operas. “However,” Calto said, “directing and writing plays is new to me, so it’s been a learning process. I had to learn how to make a sensible schedule that worked with my actors. I won’t lie, it’s nice to be in control. But I always do my best to balance having fun with actually getting things done.”

First Past the Post will be showing on Friday April 12th, and Saturday April 13th.

Drugs are Bad (directed by Omeed Tartak) is a story that takes place in a completely backwards world, and as it progresses, the audience realizes how backwards it really is. For instance, Mom and Dad become angry at Brad, the main character, which the audience assumes is because they found drugs in his room. But it turns out they were upset because they found an algebra book. The act continues in the same fashion throughout the plot.

CAST: Alan Chau (assistant director), Nina Philips, Ryan Chang, Nicole Victory

Omeed Tartak is no stranger to acting. He began acting in elementary school as a way to meet new friends. He then continued down the same path throughout middle and high school, even performing at the Levels teen center. He describes acting as an opportunity to learn from and teach to others. “I just thought it was cool to look up to someone more experienced,” Tartak said. “Now I’m nearing the end of my career, so I want to be that role model. I now have that experience since I’ve been acting for so long, and I just want my actors to learn how to perform and have fun.”

Drugs are Bad will be showing on Friday April 12th, and Saturday April 13th.

Tickets for all three nights are currently on sale for $10 each. Be sure to buy tickets based on which acts you are interested in seeing, as not all nights will show the same ones!