The Falcon Stage Company, created through the school’s Theater department will be performing and producing the comedy “CRUSHED” in this year’s Virginia High School League (VHSL) One-Act Play Competition on January 20th at Salem High School. Under the direction of Theater teacher and Director Mrs. Machay, members started rehearsals last week after setting their cast and crew which includes 60 kids.

The Falcons participate in the One-Act competition annually and won regionals and super regionals last year through VHSL They decided on the play “CRUSHED” for this particular year because it is a comedy, it is funny, and the students loved the idea.

“CRUSHED” is about two young people who live in their own fantasy worlds of romantic comedies and video games. They begin to hallucinate/manifest their own spirit guides to romance those who guide them and teach them lessons in the world of dating. Overall, the story outlines the hilarious pitfalls of having a crush.

“I believe that it’s important to give my classes autonomy and to honor student choice; when the students are invested they get so much more out of the entire experience,” Machay said. “When selecting a production, theatre students go through a list and synopsis of different plays, complete a variety of read-throughs in order to narrow down the selection, then make a final group decision.

The entire show is student-run, including the tech, studio, and actors. Every crew has a student leader referred to as a Crew Head and students are also grouped together based on talents and interests.

According to Ms. Machay, teaching and directing comedic timing is challenging and super fun and when kids get it, it’s super rewarding to watch them execute the jokes they’ve worked so hard to get.