Gallery • 9 Photos

Isadora Truan

SEEKING DEPTH: Freshman Cecilia McArthur took the stage at the Freshman Theatre Showcase with a rendition of “Treat Me Nice” by Joseph Arnone. She said she was drawn to the piece because of its emotional depth, as well as its balance of drama and humor. “I’m very drawn to emotional and dramatic monologues,” McArthur said. “I liked that this one had a little comedy at the end; and it felt kind of relatable, which is something new for me.” McArthur said the showcase went even better than she expected, especially getting to see her classmates perform for the first time. “Everyone did really well,” she said. “One of my best friends, Sam Nash, did a monologue that made me tear up. It was very good.” Looking ahead, McArthur hopes to audition for the UIL One-Act Play later this year. “I did UIL in middle school and it was really fun,” she said. “I’d love to be a part of it again.” Caption by V Overstreet. Photo by Isadora Truan.

Last week, the freshman theater classes performed monologues after 2 weeks of preparation. The monologues ranged from excerpts from the popular TV show Bojack Horseman to excerpts of Anne Frank’s writing. Allowing students to have their own choice of what to present to their classmates gave the freshmen a creative outlet for their own personal expression. The theater class allows students to explore the craft and their own ability to express themselves, and it opens the door to other ideas of performance.

We are proud to present the Freshman Theatre Monologues as this week’s Thursday Top 10.

SEEKING DEPTH: Freshman Cecilia McArthur took the stage at the Freshman Theatre Showcase with a rendition of “Treat Me Nice” by Joseph Arnone. She said she was drawn to the piece because of its emotional depth, as well as its balance of drama and humor.

“I’m very drawn to emotional and dramatic monologues,” McArthur said. “I liked that this one had a little comedy at the end, and it felt kind of relatable, which is something new for me.”

McArthur said the showcase went even better than she expected, especially getting to see her classmates perform for the first time.

“Everyone did really well,” McArthur said. “One of my best friends, Sam Nash, did a monologue that made me tear up. It was very good.”

Looking ahead, McArthur hopes to audition for the UIL One-Act Play later this year.
“I did UIL in middle school, and it was really fun,” McArthur said. “I’d love to be a part of it again.”

Caption by V Overstreet. Photo by Isadora Truan.

STAGE FRIGHT? OUT OF SIGHT: Freshman June Rodney performs Violet’s Monologue from the play “The Best Plan for Living Happily,” by Julia Lederer, during the Freshman Theatre Showcase on Oct 6. Although she was nervous, Rodney felt that the experience brought her and everyone in the program closer together.

“It was a really amazing experience,” Rodney said. “It was our first showcase at McCallum, so it was very exciting. Though I was a little nervous before, it turned out to be a really fun experience to take part in. It was great to see our class come together as a community, and also the McCallum theatre program as a whole come together to support us.”

The class began preparing a while ago, after learning the basics of acting. They each chose a monologue to perform that would reflect their strengths as actors.

“A few weeks into the school year, we began to learn about the fundamentals of acting out monologues,” Rodney said. “After a few small assignments, we were told to pick monologues and work on them. Each person selected a monologue that demonstrated their acting range. We worked on them for a few weeks up until our showcase, where we all performed.”

Rodney considered several factors in selecting her monologue.

“I chose my monologue because I thought it was a piece about a serious topic, but subtle,” she said. “I also thought it had opportunity for range in emotions.”

Rodney explained that the experience helped her acting and gave her the opportunity to perform in front of others.

“The showcase helped my acting by giving me the experience of performing in front of a live audience and by causing me to think more deeply about my acting choices,” Rodney said. “It was also helpful and inspiring to see my classmates perform, because I could learn from my peers.”

Caption by Evelyn Jenkins. Photo by Isadora Truan.

WARM WELCOME: Freshman Juliana Lotz performed her long-prepared monologue on October 6th during the Freshman Theatre Showcase. During this year’s showcase, Lotz highlighted that the number of people cheering in the crowd was special to her and made her feel comfortable in her ability on stage.

“I wasn’t really that nervous after all,” Lotz said. “It was a very supportive space considering the turnout of the older theatre majors.”

In the past week, Lotz and other freshman theatre students were given one week of time to practice their monologues in class previous to the showcase.

In her monologue, “Between the Lines,” Lotz mentioned she was very excited to perform in the play because it challenged her to exaggerate her act and fully present herself to the audience.

“I’ve always imagined myself wanting to go on and do acting at McCallum,” Lotz said. “My major takeaway is getting my timing down, but I think that’s honestly it.”

Caption by Ethan Roberts. Photo by Isadora Truan.

FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER: Freshman Lilian Cribbs has been doing theatre since she was five years old, from kids’ acting camps in elementary to middle school theatre, to her first year of high school theatre. This was Cribbs’s first straight monologue showcase with McCallum, and she really enjoyed it.

“I love the community, and I like figuring out the different characters and how to portray them,” said Cribbs.

After preparing for weeks, the theatre students were able to showcase a monologue of their choosing and present it.

The students were able to watch each other and see how different students portrayed different characters, as well as how they were able to convey the understanding of the monologue to the other students.

After spending hours deciding on the perfect monologue, Cribbs landed on a monologue performed by her grandmother, who was also her inspiration to become an actress. Her monologue from A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, was about a girl finding out that her mother, whom she had been told was dead, had in fact not died but left her when she was a baby. The monologue is of the daughter telling her mother how she found out the real truth.

“I practiced for hours, during the two weeks we had to prepare,” said Cribbs.

As the monologue came from her grandmother, she wanted to make sure the performance was perfect to make her grandmother proud. Cribbs felt she reached this goal and was proud of herself for her first monologue showcase.

Caption by Piper Adair. Photo by Isadora Truan.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Freshman Isaac Daverth performs his selected monologue from the television show “Bojack Horseman.”

“I was having trouble thinking of what monologue to do,” Daverth said. “But then when I was watching my show and I thought, ‘hey, I should just do this.’”

While Daverth had fun performing, he enjoyed other aspects of the showcase as well.

“My favorite part was getting to see everyone else’s monologues,” Daverth said.

Although Daverth enjoyed the final showcase, he had to practice a lot to get there, but to him, this practice was not a waste of time.

“I was a little nervous to perform,” Daverth said. “But I felt pretty prepared for it. And once I started acting, the nerves started to disappear.”

Caption by Jojo Barnard. Photo by Isadora Truan.

FREE CHURRO: Freshman Lilianna Saucedo performs her monologue for her fourth-period theater class in memory of her mom’s passing. Saucedo’s step-dad had originally shown her the monologue she delivered titled ‘Free Churro’ from the Netflix show Bojack Horseman. Overall, she was drawn to this piece because although it was describing an intense story, it still had bits of comedy.

“I wanted most of the parts to be relatable, and I wanted it to be funny with a few impactful lines,” Saucedo said. “I was telling a story about how basically I can never win.”

After just a week of preparation, Saucedo felt prepared to perform but still thought that more time for peer review and a full run-through of the show would have been beneficial for her.

“During my performance, I was thinking a lot about facial expressions and movement, because I know Ms. Brookby said I needed more of that, but I didn’t have time to rehearse it with the movement,” Saucedo said.

Overall, Saucedo is excited to continue to learn and perform this year in her theater class and hopes for more opportunities like this one.

Caption by Harper Maxwell. Photo by Isadora Truan.

ATE UP THE PERFORMANCE: Freshman Lee Reyes performs her comedic monologue, ‘I Ate the Divorce Papers,’ at the Freshman Theatre Showcase on October 6th. After preparing for weeks, the Major-Specific performance theatre class got ready to embody their characters, to perform for their first time at McCallum. Despite the nerves of this being her debut, Reyes will look back on this showcase with positive memories.

“I felt as though I did a really good job,” Reyes said. “I was met with a lot of compliments, so I felt pretty good about it, and the performance was very satisfying.”

The showcase was an opportunity for the freshman theatre majors to show what they have learned, and notice what they need to work on. While Rayas thought it was successful, the production gave Reyes the knowledge of how she needs to prepare for her next one.

“Next time I perform, I definitely would like to try and be more memorized,” Reyes said. “That [the memorization] could’ve gone better, and I had to improvise a line or two surprisingly. Thankfully, no one noticed, but I can make my performance even better next time.”

Aside from the actual performance, Reyes has found the community of McCallum Theatre has been something she has truly enjoyed.

“I love the friends I have made,” Reyes said. “Theatre has always been such a safe place for me, and the people that I have met along the way are really amazing and talented.”

With the rest of the year ahead of her, Reyes is excited to see what other monologues and techniques she will practice. Knowing the theatre program is perfect for her, she can’t wait to keep performing and watching her fellow actors as well.

“I love the lights and music, and watching others and the musicals is so fun,” Reyes said. “Not only do you get to be a part of it, but it’s like you’re getting a free show. Just being able ot dress up as someone completely different from myself and act completely different is extremely entertaining and fun.”

Caption by Sylvia Hurtado. Photo by Isadora Traun.

EMOTIONAL MOMENT: Freshman Sydney Reyna performed her long-prepared monologue on October 6th, during the Freshman Theatre Showcase. Reyna shared that performing in front of an audience for the first time at McCallum was both nerve-racking and exciting, especially with so many upperclassmen cheering her on, alongside her parents.

“I was honestly really nervous before going up there,” Reyna said. “But once I started, I kind of forgot about being scared and just focused on my character.”

In the week leading up to the showcase, Reyna and her fellow freshmen worked on their pieces in class, refining timing and expression before taking the stage. In her monologue, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Reyna captured the eerie, emotional tone of the piece with intensity.

“It was definitely challenging, but I liked pushing myself out of my comfort zone,” Reyna said. “I really loved seeing my friends get out there and perform with confidence.”

Caption and photo by Isadora Truan.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Freshman Veronica Banicki performs her chosen monologue during the Freshman Theatre Showcase on Oct. 6th. Each freshman got the opportunity to choose their own monologue to present, and Banicki chose June’s Monologue from Dead Special Crafts, after researching it online and finding it funny.

In preparation for the event, students had two weeks to rehearse and memorize their monologues, as well as get advice from teachers and peers.

“We had a bunch of workshops that we were doing in class, where we would sit, do our monologue, and then get advice from our teacher,” Banicki said. “Then there was another time when other students would give us feedback, and then on the day of, we ran through all of them, and then we did the show.”

As this was Banicki’s first performance at McCallum, she was nervous to begin with.

“We each had a specific monologue, and we workshopped them during lunch, Banicki said. “I was pretty nervous, because it was my first performance here, but I think it went pretty well”.

Caption by Sophia Manos. Photo by Isadora Truan.