This year’s fall One Act is You Can’t Take It With You, and auditions are this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the auditorium.
“We were looking for a comedy, and this one was fun,” director Nicole Schlautman said. “The kids liked it, and that was really it.”
No script memorization is required; all scenes will be given to the actors by Schlautman at the auditions. Character traits are up for interpretation, and big, bold decisions are looked for.
QR codes are posted around the school with links to the Google Classroom for more information or any questions students may have regarding the auditions. To help students prepare for Saturday’s auditions, optional mock auditions will be held in the auditorium by the Drama Club today at 3:30 p.m. Mock auditions are not mandatory, but give actors the ability to experience the audition process and gain feedback before the real auditions.
Having several One Act auditions under his belt, Junior Riley Crister encourages underclassmen to audition.
“I would tell underclassmen not to stress about auditions,” Crister said. “One Act is the safest and welcoming activity in my opinion, and no matter what you end up doing, it will be one of the most fun things you do.”
In addition to One Act being a welcoming place, according to Crister and previous One Act participants, the play itself is a comedy, which should produce laughter not only during performances, but also in practice.
You Can’t Take It With You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, is a story of the unconventional, free-willed Sycamore family. When Alice Sycamore falls in love with Tony Kirby, son of a wealthy, conservative banker, the family has to navigate through their clashing morals and classes. It has been a part of the American Drama curriculum for seven years.
“I read the play last year in my American drama class, and it was one of the funniest plays I’ve ever read,” senior Natalie Kraaz said. “I’m so excited to do this with my classmates, and I can’t wait to see how we perform it.”
With the 2025-2026 school year being the first time a senior class has graduated from Gretna East, leadership has been a big question. Because of that, Schlautman wanted to select a play that had room for growing opportunities.
“What’s nice is we still have kids that take over, that every year. You got somebody that steps up, every year that does it,” Schlautman said. “We’ll have a good breadth of characters, a good breadth of speaking parts this year that we’ll be able to split that weight a little bit more, and we’ve got a lot of smaller roles that can kind of build that a little bit better too. So I’m very confident in our juniors that are now seniors and even our younger grades to take over some leadership roles in that.”
