The high school One Act season is well underway, and though it is a short season, team members put a lot of time and effort into their production. Callaway High School has had a couple of opportunities to perform in front of an audience so far this year, and hosted a show for the community in the high school auditorium last week.

Hannah Beck is the head coach of the CHS One Act team, and she is assisted by Courtney Smith and Suzi Campbell. The play the coaches chose for this year is titled “Dark Road”, and Beck said it is one she has wanted to perform for quite a while.

The play is set during the post-World War II era in Nazi Germany. “It is about two sisters; one of them becomes a guard in a concentration camp and starts to believe in the Nazi ideology, and the other one does not believe in what the Nazis are doing. So we get to follow their relationship and how it changes through that time,” Beck explained.

As part of the storyline, a reporter interviews the sister who was a guard, and the timeline weaves back and forth between the past and present.

“There’s a really strong message to it, and I love shows that have a really strong message. I think the kids learn a lot from them and can really embody them really well when they know they have a meaning that they know they are showing other people,” she added. “I have had this one in my collection for several years, and I’ve just never had the right group to do it with. This year we do, and I am excited to be able to finally do it.”

Cont. PAGE 3: One Act Beck has been coaching at CHS for six years, and this is her fourth year as head One Act coach. “We’re excited for our season and the kids have been working really hard. I’m proud of what they are doing,” she shared.

The fact that the public performance landed on Veterans Day was a total coincidence. This year’s team consists of 19 members, and most of them are on stage. Beck explained that the biggest reason she has not been able to bring “Dark Road” to the stage in the past is because it requires a predominantly female cast.

“The kids have been excited to see what they could do with it, and they have really come a long way,” Beck said.

Prior to the public performance, the team had competed once and participated in a festival that wasn’t ranked. They placed third in their first competition, and Beck said the scoring between the top three teams was very close.

They traveled to Merna on Tuesday for the MNAC contest and will be in Minden on Saturday. The district contest is Dec. 3, and state is Dec. 10.

The 2025 CHS One Act team includes several seniors. We caught up with those students following the public performance to get their thoughts on this year’s show.

Zane Ellison plays the Observer and Person 5, and is doing One Act for the second time. Last year he was part of the crew, and this year he stepped out of his comfort zone to take the stage. “It’s a lot scarier being on stage. I’m part of the theater art class and helped design the set, so I did a lot of research on this and know a lot about it now,” Ellison said.

Devyn Denney is enjoying his first year as part of the team and is on the lighting crew. “I figured since this was my last year I would try something new before I left for college - something you might not get to do in bigger schools,” said Denney.

The role of Person 3, Prisoner 3, and Woman 3 is played by Tyra Brestel. She has been on the One Act team all four years. “I just like being with my friends, and practices just make it so much fun making memories. I also just enjoy being on stage,” said Brestel. “This one just tells more of a story. It’s very deep and definitely is a tear-jerker for the audience and makes them feel some type of way. Even the auditions were very deep and full of emotion.”

Aubrie Birkel helps with makeup and hair for the cast and is a four-year member of the team. She acted in the play during her first two years and transitioned to hair and makeup for the last two. “It took some stress off of me and is a way for me to share my artistic talent,” Birkel explained when asked why she made the switch. “Doing makeup is fun. This year is probably my favorite play that we have done so far just because of the storyline. It gives us more to characterize.”

Conner Paulsen is also a four-year team member and plays the Guard. “My brother was a senior when I was a freshman and he was in it all four years, so he convinced me to go out too,” Paulsen shared. “I love teamwork type things. You each have different roles, different parts, in the play and on a football field or basketball court you all have different roles. So it’s very similar. I get a lot of mixed emotions with this play, and that’s why I think this play could be good if we just keep working.”

Brayden Keeney plays Person 4 and the Doctor in “Dark Road”. He, too, has been in One Act all four years but was quick to share that this one is his favorite.

“This one has more of a story and more emotion. At the start we really weren’t getting our lines at all, and then it just clicked and I feel like we are going to do really well.” The role of Commandant is played by Caleb Furrow, who is also a four-year team member. “I like acting, especially when it’s over exaggerated,” he said. “I think that’s fun. I think this production is better than ones we have done, and I think we could go really far this year. It’s pretty heavy.” Bindi Peters is involved in several areas of the production, including crew, makeup, and lights. “Whatever Beck tells me to do I’m on it,” she laughed. Peters is rounding out her fourth year in One Act. “I just like watching the team grow from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” she said. “I see each and every one getting better as we go and it’s so exciting to watch.” The lead role of Greta is played by four-year team member Chenney Dishman. She explained how she prepares for such a heavy role. “You get into your feels. I listen to sad music, and I try to just think about the people who were affected by the Holocaust and how they felt. I also think about the soldiers performing those atrocities. You do get really deep in the feels, so you kind of have to balance it out,” she shared. “Senior year is really stressful, and One Acts just gives me the ability to put that energy towards something.”

Dishman did not have a speaking role her first year on the team but the next year she got brave and took to the stage, and discovered she loves it. “I remember as an underclassman looking up to the upperclassmen, and now I have an opportunity to leave an impression on the younger ones. Whether or not we have a good or bad year, I just want to leave a good impression on them so they come back next year,” she said.

She said the first play she acted in was a comedy, which fit with her love for humor. Last year’s play was more “surface-level drama”, she said, and admits that she was hesitant when she read the script of “Dark Road”. “It is a really dark play, but at the end of the day messages like these have to be spoken about. It’s important to remember, and while it is a dark play it is good to remember the message behind it.”