The annual One-Act Play festival has always been less than conventional. It offers students an opportunity to write and direct their own plays as well as audition for and be directed by their peers.

Auditions for One-Acts took place in the foyer of Rezak Auditorium. The setting was open; anybody could watch the auditions.

“Auditioning was fine for me, since I’m kind of used to it, but it can be challenging for newcomers to audition in front of so many people,” senior Liberty Kalin said.

For others, however, the open atmosphere might be a bit more inviting.

“I think the location actually works in their [auditioners’] favor. It makes the audition process casual and way less stressful for them,” junior Toula Sweeney said. “Since many are freshman, One-Acts are their first audition ever and it can be nerve-racking.”

The location of the auditions wasn’t the only nonconventional aspect. Several of the plays submitted are experimental pieces.

“I would just describe [experimental theater] as a method of theater that goes about telling a story in a non-traditional manner,” senior Trevor Bashaw said. “Other than that, the term can be interpreted pretty broadly.”

Non-traditional indeed.

Directors of experimental pieces had their auditioners show off how unusual they were willing to be.

“I had to become the shape of a festering wound,” Kalin said.

According to Kalin, the shape of a festering wound is being bent backwards with arms flailing.

Now that students have auditioned, directors will choose their cast and set rehearsal dates — a process that doesn’t take long compared to other MHS productions.

“The nice thing about One-Acts is that they don’t take six weeks of rehearsals to produce,” drama director Linda Uthoff said.