"One-Act Review: 'The Pillowman'"

            Kennedy High School prides itself in multiple areas, academics, sports, and performing arts. This past week was our Speech Night, where our award winning Speech Team showcases the events that made it on to the State level. It is a chance for parents to see their kids perform, but it is also one of the few opportunities that the students have to see our peers. It takes a lot for a performance to give me chills and there was only one that gave me them this past week.

            The one performance that gave me chills up and down was the one-act interpretation of The Pillowman, starring Jonah Heskje, Luke Gibbs, Alosha Robinson, and Matt Larson. This group of guys is truly truly amazing! Their onstage chemistry is phenomenal and they each capture their characters to a tee. Luke and Jonah play the two cops in this piece, accusing Alosha's character of terribly awful crimes to children, only to find that it was his mentally handicapped little brother played by Matt. All of the guys had stellar performances, but two of them really stood out.

            Alosha Robinson is a junior at Kennedy. He plays football and is know for his extensive work with the improv team. I have always know Alosha as the funny guy and am glad to call him one of my friends. I had the privilege of directing him in his debut role earlier this year in our Children's Show, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. In The Pillowman, Alosha plays the main character, Katurian Katurian. He captured this role perfectly, encompassing the right amount of quirkiness that the character needed, in balance with this sense of compassion and sincerity for the well-being of his brother. Alosha nailed this role and I feel that it was the perfect way to show that he can do something other than being funny. Props to him for a knockout performance.

            The other performance that absolutely blew me away was that of Matt Larson, sophomore. He has been involved with speech, theatre, football, and show choir in his short time so far at Kennedy. I have worked with him in musicals and he had a role in the one-act last year, but I have never actually seen him in a straight show (for those of you who don't speak theatre language, that means a show without music). Playing a role of a mentally handicapped character can either be portrayed extremely well, or completely awful. Matt captured the completely wonderful side of this. He played the role with such a genuine feeling that made it so believable, without going overboard and carrying out stereotypical mannerisms. Matt brought out the humor in this piece and held this over-the-top level of pure content that made the fact that he was the one who committed these awful crimes, all the more creepy.

            I commend all of the actors for their work and cannot wait to see the lead roles that are waiting for them down the road.