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Gazing into the audience, Wes Autry ’26 as Mr. DePinna poses like the Discus Thrower as Mayla Montgomery ’26 as Penny Sycamore paints him. Mr. DePinna was especially absurd, requiring intense amounts of committment from Autry and resulting in an All-Star Cast honor at competiton. “I never expected anything like that,” Autry said. “[This is] the first year I’ve ever gone to UIL, and winning an award from it is gratifying. It’s something I never thought I would achieve, and so achieving that makes me feel like everything I’ve done here wasn’t pointless.”
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Arms outstretched, Annie Curtis ’26 as Essie rehearses a ballet dance accompanied by Adam Trenk ’27 as her husband, Ed. For many actors, this was not their first time being part of a One-Act Play company. “I think more so than other shows, it’s been more of a team and community effort,” Trenk said. “Being able to have a role in this one is new for me, and I feel a much greater sense of responsibility. It feels like we’re out here to perform, to play the game, and I’m always excited to do that.”
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Holding out prints, Ella Braun ’27 reveals the inadvertently inflammatory material Ed Sycamore has been printing, which ultimately leads to everyone being arrested. Braun was one of the company’s alternates, meaning she served as an understudy throughout the rehearsal process and was asked to step into the role mere weeks before competition. “It was all very stressful at first because it really came out of the blue,” Braun said. “That’s the thing about being an alternate, you never know you’re really going to have to step in. It was very exciting, and I’m very glad I had this experience.”
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Sitting awkwardly, Lucy Allison ’26 as Alice and Koen Keene ’27 as Tony deal with an interruption from Alice’s mother. The romance between Alice and Tony was the driving force for the play, as it brought the two opposite families together.
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Greeting her grandfather, Lucy Allison ’26 as Alice gives Ivan Schere ’27 as Grandpa a kiss on the cheek. The relationship between Alice and Grandpa was central to the play’s plot, with Grandpa encouraging Alice to follow her heart and marry Tony.
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Proudly holding out firecrackers, Loic Pehrson ’26 as Paul shows off his newest creation to Mayla Montgomery ’26 as Penny, his wife. Each member of the Sycamore family have a passion that they follow, regardless of if they’re good at it.
A cacophony of firework blasts, frantic typing, and xylophone riffs emanated out from the Black Box for months as the company of You Can’t Take It With You prepared for the One Act Play Competition. Before going to the competition, the company had a public performance on Friday, March 6 and performed four times during the school day on Monday, March 9.
An annual undertaking, schools are challenged by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to perform a play that is less than 40 minutes long, with a set that must be set and struck in under seven minutes. The constraints of the competition mean that the cast is very limited, and primarily made up of upperclassmen, many of whom have acted together previously.
“I think more so than other shows, it’s been more of a team and community effort,” Adam Trenk ‘27, who portrayed Ed Sycamore, said. “Knowing people who were a part of the show and being able to have a role in this one is new for me, and I feel a much greater sense of responsibility. It feels like we’re out here to perform, to play the game, and I’m always excited to do that.”
This year, the company put on You Can’t Take It With You, a classic comedy from the 1930s which centers around the kooky Sycamore family, whose joyous but chaotic lifestyle causes some conflict when their daughter Alice falls in love with Tony Kirby, who comes from a very no-nonsense family. Other eccentric characters include Mr. DePinna, the ice salesman who just moved in, the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina, and the boisterous Russian ballet teacher Mr. Kolenkhov.
“[My favorite part of playing Kolenkhov] was being loud, being obnoxious, being able to fight, being one of those characters who doesn’t really pick up on social cues because it’s way more fun than being sad, especially during the chaotic scenes,” actor Lachlan Salemme ‘27 said. “It’s just a much funnier experience than most of my other roles.”
A unique aspect of the UIL cast is the work of alternates. Often putting in double the work for little recognition, two alternates learn all the male and female tracks in the show to be prepared to step in should an actor not be able to perform. This year, alternate Ella Braun ‘27 was able to step in to fill the role of Mr. Henderson for competition day.
“It was all very stressful at first because it really came out of the blue,” Braun said. “That’s the thing about being an alternate is you never know you’re really gonna have to step in. But it was very exciting and I’m very glad that I got this experience.”
On Tuesday, March 10 the company took their production to the zone level of competition at Hutto High School. Not only did the play advance to the bi-district level, but six members of the company received medals: Dominik Brown ‘26 received the All-Star Technician award, Salemme and Mayla Montgomery ‘26 received Honorable Mention All-Star cast medals, Annie Curtis ‘26 and Wes Autry ‘26 received All-Star cast medals, and Lucy Allison ‘26 was recognized as one of two actors across all four schools competing who received the Best Performer recognition.
“I never expected anything like that,” Autry said. “[This is] the first year I’ve ever gone to UIL, and winning an award from it is gratifying. It’s something I never thought I would achieve, and so achieving that makes me feel like everything I’ve done here, it wasn’t pointless.”
There was a quick turnaround to the bi-district competition, which was also held at Hutto High School on Thursday, March 12. While the company did not advance to the next level of competition, they did receive the Alternate Play designation, and three members of company received medals: Jacob Kinnison ‘27 received the All-Star Technician award, Montgomery received another Honorable Mention All-Star cast medal, and Ivan Schere ‘27 received an All-Star cast medal.
“It was really exciting to make it to bi-districts, because usually we aren’t able to have that experience,” Assistant Director Autumn Jacobs ‘26 said. “It was a great experience with the whole cast, and I’m really proud of all the work we put into the show.”
Westwood Theatre will next take the stage April 28 and 29 to perform their Senior-Directed shows, She Kills Monsters and Little Women.
