Since the beginning of February, AP English Literature students have been working on defining the concept of the Absurd for nearly a month by analyzing famous literary works such as “Waiting for Godot” and “The Sandbox.” To deepen their understanding of absurdism, the students concluded their unit by composing original plays in which students illustrated their tenets of absurdism.
At the 27th Annual Festival of the Absurd, the AP Literature Faculty, James Garcia, Martin Stibolt and Peter Alix, selected nine plays showcased during Office Hours in the Big Theatre over three days, from March 25 to March 28.
The first day featured the following shows: “I Am Looking for My Dog” by senior Arya Sajadi, “Lights Off!” by senior Camille Helbig and “Against the Clock” by seniors Tyler Zhen, Sara Yu, Jed Kim-Ozaeta and Jerry Hu.
For his play, Sajadi wrote a play based on his experience with his dog, which is his best friend.
“I wanted to make sure I could convey the absurdist message of the play to the audience without explicitly stating it,” Sajadi said. “We search for meaning in life through the things and people we love. But most of the time, we don’t get a response that satisfies us, so we end up chasing this idea of love rather than appreciating the people already around us.”
The following day launched with the plays: “The Last Supper” by seniors Miles Hexun, Brendon Kubota, Takashi Nishida and Benny Tsabba, “The First Day (Again)” by seniors Leo Kushnir, David Zhang, Tanish Rajinikanth and Andrew Fu and “The Trolley Problem” by senior Siena Mellor. Utilizing wacky humor, all three plays covered aspects of human behaviors uniquely.
Lastly, the Festival closed with: “Slain” by seniors Allyson Cheung, Sara Li and Nikki Piedad, “The Twelfth Floor” by seniors Mason Nguyen, Karina Moore, Shuba Senthilkumar and Brian Lantz and “The Online Search for Meaning” by seniors Alina Levi, Juliet Kozlov and Rissa Liu.
Moore, who both wrote and acted as a character in her group’s play, faced some challenges due to the structure of the play, where two office workers engaged in a fierce back-and-forth dialogue, involving a ton of memorizing.
“The extra rehearsals instilled a lot of confidence in me before the performance day though,” Moore said.
Many seats were filled during all three days of performances, and students shared how they enjoyed listening and watching other people’s input and their message on absurdism.
“It was a really fun experience getting to see my friends on stage,” senior Mars Sui said. “It made me think about concepts that aren’t said aloud in an everyday conversation.”
Not only was the Festival a creative platform for students to exhibit their interpretations of absurdism, but it was also a unique opportunity for them to get to know their peers through humor and self-reflection.
