EPHRATA — Audiences at Ephrata High School’s Spring Showcase will be in for a three-fer when EHS Drama presents three one-act plays.

“I had another show in mind,” Director Marla Allsopp said. “But I never quite know what I’m going to have for auditions, so I always have some (other scripts) kind of in the back of my mind. I didn’t get the right combo or number of kids for the show I was thinking of, and I had these kind of sitting there. (I said), ‘I would really love to do these shows I’ve had for a couple of years, and I finally have the right group to do it.’”

With a cast of 10, several students appear in two plays, and one, senior Monty Muir, is in all three.

The first play is a light comedy entitled “Fortunes Read $1,” featuring MyLee Holland as a fortune teller who has set up a booth in a public square and answers questions for a dollar a pop.

“The fortune teller really doesn’t do a whole lot of anything, but people still get the answer to what they need,” Allsopp said. “It’s like they already know what they want to do, but she (says something like), ‘Well, if that’s what you really want, if that’s what you think is best.’ And then they’re (saying), ‘Thank you. You helped me figure it out.’

“I can’t entirely tell if the fortune teller is actually a true fortune teller, or if she’s just scamming people because her answers are very generic,” said Muir. Muir plays Don, who with his girlfriend Dawn (Hailey Howell) has questions for the fortune teller. When the answer to Dawn’s question turns out to be true, he has to rethink his initial assessment.

Katherine Hann appears in “Fortunes Read $1” as the rebellious teenage daughter of a hippie mother.

“My name is Whisper in the play because my mother wanted to name me something mystical,” she said. “I hate my name, so what I want is to change my name, and I’m asking the fortune teller if she thinks that would be a good idea.”

The second play is “Why We Like Love Stories,” a wistful melodrama following four teenagers on a hill above town, as they navigate high school romance and the inevitable heartbreak that comes with it. It’s by turns sweet and painful, and it poses a challenge for young actors because the characters and situations hit close to home.

“I think the drama pieces push the kids in a little bit different direction, because they can’t just rely on doing funny things, the physical comedy piece. You can do that, and everybody laughs. But this is sustaining, making an impact that really does push them forward as actors,” Allsop said.

Muir is in that play, too, playing a boy called Bark.

“There’s this girl who everyone kind of finds weird,” he said. “This girl is with a guy, and they’re breaking up and then that same guy is with a different girl, and then they break up. And then I come in, I’m that guy’s best friend, and I try to romance one of the girls … I relate to Bark the most. I’ve felt a little dorky, I’ve been in love before, and I’ve felt really awkward on a date before.”

The show finishes with a comedy of errors called “A 49er with Three Bags Full.” This is set in Gold Rush-era San Francisco and features Muir as a prospector who comes to town with a bag of gold, a bag of tea and a bag of – well, it would be tobacco, but it was changed to suit a high school production and is now cilantro. The story becomes a shell game as the bags are switched around among Bertha the landlady (Katherine Hann), Jasper the English prospector (William Ross) and Elsie the saloon girl (Emery Hiatt). This play requires a lot more in the way of physical comedy, Muir said.

“To make it funny, you have to portray it in a goofy manner,” he said. “I’ve been told to be wild and wacky with my body and my voice. I’ve had to add in a few things too, like every time I laugh, I have to snort a little bit.”

Muir has been in drama all four years of high school, he said. In contrast, Hann, a junior, said she had never even thought of doing drama until this play.

“One of the girls from drama (who’s) been in it for a long time came to me and said that they were looking for more actors and actresses,” she said. “She said she thought I’d be pretty good, so I just joined.”

Directing three plays simultaneously might seem daunting, but Allsopp said it has its advantages over a longer show.

“It allows me to really dig in because it’s shorter, so we don’t have so much stress and pressure of trying to get a whole thing altogether,” she said. “When we’re doing a 20-minute show, we can do it once or twice in a rehearsal, so we get the extra time that we need … It does have more steps, but I like the variety of it. It keeps it interesting.”

Spring Showcase 2025

March 27-28, April 3-4

Doors open at 6:15 p.m., play starts at 7 p.m.

Ephrata High School Performing Arts Center

Sixth Avenue and Frey Rd NW

General admission $12, students $10

Tickets available at www.ephratatigers.com

Cast

‘Fortunes Read $1’

Monty Muir: Don

Hailey Howell: Dawn

MyLee Holland: Fortune teller

Connor Leasher: Abe

Whisper: Katherine Hann

Emery Hiatt: Mom

America Halsey: Hannah

Ziella Garcia: Emily

Sasalyn Simina: Krissy

‘Why We Like Love Stories’

Monty Muir: Bark

Hailey Howell: Jessica

MyLee Holland: Chloe

Connor Leasher: Crooper

‘A 49er with Three Bags Full’

Katherine Hann: Bertha Hopkins

William Ross: Jasper Garrick

Monty Muir: Rufus Logan

Emery Hiatt: Elsie

    Bark (Monty Muir, right) and Chloe (Hailey Howell) share an awkward moment in the Ephrata High School production of “Why We Like Love Stories,” one of three one-act plays in the EHS Spring Showcase.