From puppets and comedic musical numbers to rapid fire Hamlet, this year’s Shorts transformed the Black Box Theater into a showcase of student creativity. Entirely student directed, casted, and performed, this year’s production brought students across different experience levels and grades together to perform three 15-minute scenes from Falsettos, Hamlet, and Avenue Q. 

In previous years, Shorts was organized with the help of Performing Arts Department Chair Dr. Kristen Tregar, but this year marked a shift toward full student leadership, with seniors overseeing, casting, making production decisions, and scheduling. Despite these changes, it also made auditions more accessible. “Last year, it was a part of Acting Workshop and Bishop’s Singers. I think the performing arts council wanted to open up Shorts to the community, which is what people really liked about it,” explained Abigail Weiner (‘28). 

Falsettos:

The night opened with a song from Falsettos, a musical by William Finn that follows a tight-knit group of people navigating love, family, and gay romance. Seniors Bex Balsdon (’26) and Jackson Weiser (‘26) took charge of directing this short, they explained how love can be expressed and defined through an LGBTQ+ lens. “We chose the songs that we thought best communicated the messages and fun vibes of the show while keeping it understandable for the audience,” explained Bex. 

With experience as an actor in Shorts last year, when it was exclusive to Acting Workshop, Bex said stepping into the director role was new and exciting. “It’s so cool to be able to choose a short and watch it come to life through the rehearsal process,” she expanded. “I’ve loved Falsettos for a while,” she added, explaining that she was drawn to its themes of family and love. “I think it’s a beautiful musical with beautiful music.” 

Jackson, who had never been involved in Shorts before, added that directing gave him a new appreciation for the support actors receive behind the scenes. While originally unfamiliar with the show, after Bex had pitched the idea, Jackson said he “listened to the entire soundtrack in one night.”

Performed by Harley Nudleman (‘29), Brady Le (‘29), Abigail Weiner (’28), Zara Zierhut (’27), Aviva Wrosch (’27), and Celeste Oder (’26), the performance held special significance for all of the cast members, especially those participating in Shorts for the first time.

“This was my first year participating in Shorts,” said Abigail. “It wasn’t the usual group of people that are acting or singing, which made it more fun.” 

Aviva shared that Shorts provided a welcoming way into the theater. “I haven’t really done a lot in the theater community at Bishop’s before, and Shorts is a very fun and low-stakes thing that I was able to do with my friends.”

Brady emphasized how the environment encouraged students to try something new. “Since it was such a low-pressure environment, it was really welcoming,” he explained. “It’s a good place for lots of people from different communities to dabble in new arts.”

The collaborative process also added enjoyment to the experience. “Working with other students on this production made it a lot more fun and meaningful to me,” Aviva said. 

Rehearsals began in early January and consisted of a mix of music and blocking sessions. “Since it’s only two songs, it goes pretty fast,” Brady noted, “but coordinating a time with everybody was kind of difficult.” Aviva added that many cast members were balancing multiple extracurriculars, which made scheduling a challenge. 

Despite a last-minute change when their accompanist could not attend, the cast adapted easily. “Everyone just laughed and had fun,” Harley said.

Behind the scenes, the cast emphasized the work required to put together a short performance. “It takes a lot of time and hard work to put on even a 10-15 minute short,” Aviva said.

As Harley and Brady argued about who was the better racquetball player, Zara and  Celeste complained about who had the worst day. Next to them, Abigail and Aviva were entertaining themselves with couples therapy, filling the stage with cacophony. The cast and the directors expressed pride in pulling off the final performance. “Getting to see the short that we’ve spent so much time on come to life in front of us was such a magical experience,” said Bex. “It is such a low-commitment, fun way to do theatre, and I’d definitely recommend it to people who want to try acting without the long hours,” said Harley. 

Hamlet: 

15 minute Hamlet, by Tom Stoppard, was the second short of the night. Directed by senior Naveen Hernandez (‘26), the play featured a wide range of performing arts students, from freshmen actors to seniors who had never acted prior to Shorts. 

Quite literally by its name, 15 minute Hamlet condenses Shakespeare’s longest play—which typically runs around three hours— into a 15 minute act. Stuppard takes the most famous scenes in the Hamlet, such as “to be or not to be,” Hamlet’s soliloquy, the graveyard scene, and the ghost encounter— all jam packed in a hilarious 15 minute segment. To the surprise of the audience, the actors came back on stage for an encore, where they performed a two minute version of Hamlet! 

To avid readers of Shakespeare and fans of Hamlet, the play was like a homage to one of the most recognizable plays of all time. “I loved how silly everything was. Everything was happening so quickly but the references to the original play were still so subtle,” said Kasia Svatora (‘28). 

To people unfamiliar with Hamlet in the audience, the play was kind of like a crash course video: that leaves you a bit puzzled at the end but wanting to learn more. But whether you were a scholar of Shakespeare or not, one could have easily laughed at the jokes, made simple for everyone to understand. 

The play featured many people close to Naveen. Naveen’s sister, Mina Hernandez (‘29) played the role of Ophelia, and Tyler Chang (‘26), a good friend of Naveen’s, acted the part of Hamlet. 

In addition to the race against time, many actors had to juggle between multiple roles, making the play more chaotic but immensely hilarious. Kathlene Owens (‘29) played the role of the narrator, Claudius — the king, and Polonius. “Even though I had a lot of roles to play, I still loved every second of rehearsing and acting for the play,” Kathlene said. She added, “It was a low stakes way of socializing and having fun with my friends all while performing such a funny play.” 

For other actors, like Tyler—the show had more of a sentimental value. Tyler explained how he and Naveen had been friends for a long time, and that it had been a long dream of Naveen’s to get his friend group to act in Shorts with him. “I decided to act because Naveen has been asking me to do this ever since ninth grade,” Tyler said. “Since this is my last year at Bishop’s, I thought it would be fun to try something new,” he added 

Directing and organizing the play was also a smooth process, something that Naveen was surprised but also thankful for. “It was lovely to work with the cast and Jake Shim. They were so willing to do every weird thing I asked of them,” he said. “It was good communication between me and the actors that resulted in such a great performance,” Naveen concluded. 

Avenue Q: 

The final short of the night was Avenue Q, rated as a 14+ production — due to its mature content. This comedic musical combined puppetry and live actors exploring adulthood through humorous songs. Senior James O’Brien (‘26) directed this Short, a parody of the famous children’s show Sesame Street.

Performed by Zara Zierhut (’27), Sophie Gratry (’27), Addison Simmons (’27), Sydney Whitman (‘27), Malaika Khanna (’27), Reese Newlin (’26), and Giles Beamer (‘26), this particular performance was different from the others “because it was not just a single scene from a certain play/show, but rather a couple hand-picked ones that created a ‘mini version’ of Avenue Q,” explained Malaika.

The timeline added both pressure and energy to the production. Giles said, “I was surprised by how quick the whole process was,” explaining that it was only about a month total from rehearsals to performance. Scheduling conflicts meant that “our first rehearsal as a first cast was the day of the performance,” so the group had to “make the most of the time we had.” Despite the rush, he praised the experience, calling director James O’Brien (‘26) “a real visionary,” and describing it as an opportunity he hopes to repeat. 

James shared that directing “changed my perspective in the way of being a leader and being able to clearly orchestrate a vision I had in my head. Sometimes I’d have trouble getting it out but then I was able to rely on my very talented actors to help me create that vision.”

He also explained that Avenue Q is one of his favorite musicals. “I think it’s so funny. I’ve always loved it,” adding, “also, the structure of the show lends itself to a short in the sense that you can kind of make a plot across the songs. Songs were out of order, but there was still the through line of the musical.”

For first-time participant Addison, Avenue Q wasn’t like anything she’s ever done before. She explained, “It felt like a low-stakes performance, which made it less intimidating and more fun,” adding that the show’s humor and style were “exciting and different.”

Malaika pointed to the bigger picture behind the performance: “Shorts is completely student-led.” She added, “The directors choose and cut their own scenes and music, and the actors come together on their weekends to learn and rehearse. It truly is a place where students can learn to create and put together a piece entirely on their own.” 

In terms of the mature content of this short, such as the song “The internet is for porn,” which they sang and danced along to, James said, “I think people liked it. Giles’ parents, especially when Giles was singing about porn, were laughing really hard. I think, you know, I think the Bishop’s community as a whole is mature enough to consume mature content.”

James concluded, “I think we need stuff like Avenue Q in this world more. It lightens people up. It’s a very, very lighthearted show, for sure.”

Across all three performances, Shorts showed what student-led theater can look like: fast, creative, and collaborative, leaving the audience entertained, happy, and maybe a bit startled.