With more than 60 people acting in the upcoming musical Hairspray and dozens more involved in the production, East has a thriving thespian culture. There are so many opportunities that students don’t often consider looking for a new space to hone their acting craft outside of school. However, many local agencies give students a way to practice theater. One such agency is One Song Productions.
Founded in 2002 by Chapel Hill High School students, One Song is entirely student run, with students doing all the acting and directing for their productions. Over the course of a year, One Song produces three shows and offers students another opportunity to be involved in theater.
One of the most enjoyable parts of One Song for many participants is the ability to work outside of a school framework. According to Alan Hunt, a senior at Chapel Hill High and one of the One Song board members, one of the main things that One Song teaches is managing without adult supervision.
“I think that through doing One Song I’ve really learned how to work with other people my age, collaborating and doing something constructive,” Hunt said. “Just going through a show without one clear power figure like an adult director, you really learn how to work with each other, and balance friendship and professionalism.”
One Song also provides a vehicle for getting to know people from different schools. Students from all over Chapel Hill, and even from Durham and Raleigh, collaborate to produce a show, building friendships and uniting around common interests.
“We’re staying up every night working on this thing we all care about and love,” said Chapel Hill High School junior Matilda Chen, another board member. “There’s a big communal aspect to it.”
One of One Song’s most notable programs is Feb 48, an annual one-act play festival where participants are given 48 hours over the course of a weekend to write and produce several skits. On Friday night, students are given an opening line and a closing line and have to build a script around it, with the deadline being Saturday morning. From then on, teams of actors and directors put it together, memorizing their lines and finding props. The whole thing culminates in a performance Sunday evening.
For Gayle Krest, a junior at East, Feb 48 offers another opportunity to be on the stage.
“I like theater, but I don’t have time to do it with my school, and I don’t have time to take it as a class.[Since] this is only one weekend, it doesn’t interfere with any jobs or sports.”
Lately, most of One Song’s shows have been at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Their most recent show was Rumors, and upcoming performances include Dead Man’s Cell Phone, which will run Feb. 28-March 1 and It’s Not You, It’s Me, which will run May 29-May 31.
To learn more about One Song, and how to get involved, visit 1songproductions.org and follow them on Instagram @onesongproductions.
