NMH One-Act Festival Puts Students Center Stage

Students take center stage as the Northfield Mount Hermon Theater Department closes out 2025 with its annual One-Act Festival, Dec. 11 to 13 in the Chiles Theater.

This year’s festival features four plays, each running about 10 minutes long, directed by students from this semester’s directing class:

• “37 Origami Bees” by John Busser
  • Directed by Iggy Phenix ’26
     
• “Midnight Snow Falls Softly” by Donna Stuccio
  • Directed by Amelia Sabetti ’26
     
• “15 Minutes in a Haunted House” by Deirdre Girard
  • Directed by Juno Batty ’26
     
• “Sandy's Gift” by Greg Mandryk
  • Directed by Anthony McNamara ’26

“It's an interesting mix,” said theater director Eddie Yankow ’13 of this year’s lineup. “There’s no exact thematic throughline. That's what makes the one act festival fun: Each of these student directors gets their moment to be in the driver's seat.”

The students have had total artistic and logistical control of their productions from start to finish, holding auditions, designing sets, and working with their casts to bring their visions to life, a process Yankow referred to as “a kind of ‘advanced fundamentals’ experience. 

“They're learning the building blocks of the director's art form,” he said. “It's advanced in the sense that they are given a lot of license but also have some practical things that they need to contend with.”

Phenix drew on his experiences as a performer to guide his directorial vision. “It's made me think more about the directors that I've had and how they’ve shaped me,” he said. “I want to bring those positive feelings that made me feel seen and understood to my actors.”

McNamara’s big takeaway: “Directing is hard,” he said. “There's so many decisions you have to make, and they're all super important. You really have to trust your gut, while keeping in mind that you aren't always right. I may have a lot of strong visions about my characters, but the actors are ultimately going to be with the ones performing.”

Collaboration is baked into nearly every step of the process. “It plays into the ethos of purposeful collaboration that the school emphasizes,” Yankow said. In addition to bouncing ideas off faculty members and their casts, student directors work closely with one another during class time, posing questions and troubleshooting issues.

“The same way that a director is a test audience, they get to be each other's testers,” Yankow said. “Our classes are partially theoretical lessons — things they can bring into the rehearsal room — but they’re also a space to shop around ideas with each other. It’s not just me answering their question; it’s opening it up to others to see: What are they trying?”

That process of experimentation extends to the actors, drawing a wide variety of students to audition for roles in the One-Act Festival.

“It's completely new for me, really,” said Sarah Keator ’26, who plays Madison in “15 Minutes in a Haunted House.” The chance to try something new alongside friends and see her director’s vision unfold has been a fun experience that has allowed her to develop her public-speaking skills.

“Having to step out of my comfort zone a little bit, memorize lines and dig deep into my character in a way that will align with what Juno wants has allowed me to do some self-reflection and find parts of myself in the character I’m portraying,” Keator said.

Eavan Connelly ’26, who plays the title character in “Sandy’s Gift,” appreciates the opportunity the festival gives to students who are interested in acting but may not have time to commit to a full-scale production.

“It's very accessible. You don't have to give up a sport to do it or memorize a ton of lines,” she said. “It makes the experience so much fun. The high point in my day is when I have rehearsal.”

For students who have acted in larger-scale theater productions, the close-knit interactions with peers and the compact scope of the One-Acts offer a change of pace.

“It's definitely a higher level in that we're analyzing the script more,” said Charlotte Helgeson ’28, who plays Janey in “Midnight Snow Falls Softly.”

“When Amelia is telling me how she wants my character to act, I have to take that into consideration but also not lose sight of how I want to express my character,” she said. “That's a very interesting path to navigate.”

“I knew it was gonna be good, but I didn't expect to have so much fun and enjoy it as much as I do,” said Ashley Gervacio ’28, who plays Curtis in “Sandy’s Gift.” 

“I've gotten to meet new people and get closer to them, outside of their characters,” she added. “Whether it’s the arts in general or performing arts specifically, it’s always such a welcoming community here.”

The NMH One-Act Festival opens Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7:30pm in the Chiles Theater, with additional showings on Friday, Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13, both at 7:30pm. For more information, visit nmhschool.org/academics/arts.

Photos by Matthew Cavanaugh Photography. See more scenes from the 2025 One-Act Festival on Flickr.