TheatreMcLean’s annual Sketchfest event was held on Wednesday, May 15. Five student acts were shown in total, and the event was hosted by senior and TheatreMcLean co-President Rafik Hanna.

“Sketchfest is an event where five student directors present their short plays that they have been working on for the last three and a half weeks, with four to eight students acting in each,” senior and TheatreMcLean co-President Noah Chlan said.

Sketchfest aims to push students to be creative by working without the resources that help refine large high school productions.

“The student directors have minimal time and minimal tech, but theater only really needs actors, an audience, and a stage. Those are the only absolutes; everything else is negotiable,” Hanna said. “As a result, the directors have to figure out how to best execute their vision given limitations.”

As a result, students created unique acts that took advantage of the ideas and personalities of their directors and actors.

“Ryan Brown’s piece went from normal to dark but funny pretty fast as people started to fall off stage,” Chlan said. “Another highlight was Astro’s mysterious and unnerving piece that starred Emma Weinshall. It was very moving.”

Later this month, TheatreMcLean will hold several more events to celebrate the graduating class and the work done by the program throughout the year.

“Drama awards, an annual ceremony where we induct new members into the theater department, is happening Wednesday May 22nd. As International Thespian Society presidents, Noah and I will give a state-of-the-union-esque speech, reflecting over the past year and looking ahead to the new group of theater kids,” Hanna said. “We’ve also got our last No Shame events of the year. No Shame is a variety show based on the philosophy of having no shame. For about two hours on Friday, you can go up and do nearly anything onstage, without fear of getting judged. It really is a safe space, and for the final No Shames coming up, there’ll be a lot of seniors sharing their favorite memories, jokes, and moments of the past year.”