As students wrap up their last few weeks on campus, the Honors Theater class put on a final showcase to cap off their Peddie Theater careers.
The class is composed of seniors who spend an entire year learning about and developing both theater productions and performances. In the fall and winter, they work on plays, discuss production processes and finally select a few scenes to be performed in their showcase in the spring.
Each scene is directed, produced, and fully executed by the students. This year’s showcase consisted of eight plays. From the hysterically comedic “Not So Cocoa Pebbles” to the sentimentally beautiful “Whole House Full Of Babies,” the show exhibited a wide range of genres and topics, highlighting the diverse talents of each student.
This year’s students for the Honors Theater class featured Nikita Goyal, Aarushi Gupta, Natalie Muenzen, Liam Ruiz, Bryan Cheng, Lena McCollum, Lincoln Boone, Taye Seubert, Ethan Sbarro, Sanai Parrish, Jake Mileski and Keren Cruz-Lozada. Each student, carefully selected by the arts department, had a background working in a Peddie show as either an actor or a production member.
The major aspect that sets the Honors Theater showcase apart from other Peddie productions is its student-drivenness. The plays, set, lighting and design were all managed by students. Additionally, this year’s performance premiered three student-written plays: “Not So Cocoa Pebbles” by Keren Cruz-Lozada ‘26, a story about rats plotting revenge on their crazy homeowner; “Every So Often” by Nikita Goyal ‘26, a heartfelt scene depicting a family mourning the loss of a mother from suicide; and “Let’s Make A Deal” by Liam Ruiz, a play a doll creator accidentally making a deal with a cocaine dealer.
The other plays performed were “Bed and Breakfast” by Richard Dresser, which features a conversation between two women about their equally bizarre husbands; “I Apologise For My Husband” by Ella Kim, a story about a woman setting her apartment on fire after discovering her husband was cheating on her with a man; “Small World” by Tracey Wilson, which revolves around three couples on a first date whose lives were unusually intertwined with one another; “Whole House Full of Babies” by Sean O’Conner, a play about a pair of best friends discussing about friendships and loneliness; and “Some Other Kid” by A. Rey Pamatat, a play where three children reminisce about their lives and two ultimately mourn the loss of the third after a freak shooting. This shocking, sorrowful ending to the showcase left audiences with the beautiful message of raising awareness against hate and spreading love and peace.
The final presentations, performed on the evenings of April 23, 24 and 25, were a success, sparking compliments and rave reviews from the Peddie community.
However, the process was not easy. Different from prior Honors Theater performances, the showcase this year had to be held in the Blackbox due to the William Mount-Burke ’54 Theater being altered in preparation for the spring play. Compared to the Theater, the Blackbox is much smaller. Member Ethan Sbarro recalled, “I was challenged by working with the Blackbox’s limited spacing, a setback that made it difficult to plan blocking.”
Additionally, given the short rehearsal time, many cast members mentioned the struggle with line memorization, especially given the volume of plays they had to prepare. Despite these challenges, the seniors remained persistent, facing these obstacles head-on and pushing themselves to put on their greatest performance for the community.
From late winter to spring term, each student worked tirelessly to bring their ideas to life. Although the process was difficult, the students enjoyed the freedom to choose the stage directions, lighting and set, and relished watching their own visions come to life on stage.
“I really liked staging each of these plays and watching my peers [develop] their own direction styles,” said Honors Theater student Lena McCollum.
Throughout the production, students further developed their skills on both the technical and performance aspects of theater; learned teamwork and, most importantly, had fun with one another.
When asked about their favorite plays, Sbarro gave a shoutout to a scene he starred in, “I Apologize For My Husband.” In this scene, Sbarro played Dan Baker, a childish husband with aspirations to become a famous actor. “It’s so funny and hilarious, I love how physical it is with big movements and emotions,” he explained.
McCollum ‘26 praised crowd-favorite “Not So Cocoa Pebbles,” as well as “Let’s Make A Deal,” saying, “They are both student-written, and also the funniest and most creative plays we had up there.”
Thanks to the hard work of the class, the Honors Theater showcase was a great success, achieving a sold-out status every night. In this way, the seniors were able to bid farewell to Peddie Theater through one last phenomenal show.
