With all the vitality of a long-awaited spring, the Laurel Mill Playhouse's Young Adult Spring One Act Festival brings seven one-act plays and a charming bouquet of fresh-faced young actresses to the intimate stage on Main Street.
Last year, the Playhouse changed the format of its one-act festival to a youth production offering short plays that repeat over two weekends, similar to repertoire theater.
Directed again by vice president Larry Simmons and produced by Simmons' wife, Diana, and Maureen Rogers, of Laurel, this year's festival showcases the work of award-winning playwright Mark Harvey Levine, Jeanette Brown, Ann Marley and the Simmons' daughter, Kendra.
The stage has been stripped and painted for black box theater and focuses on human elements with bare bones emphasis on tech. There are no other visual design elements except for a brown curtain, a white panel, a few movable and nondescript furnishings and some clever costumes.
But Simmons' all-girl cast, who all have prior stage experience, easily fill center stage with the beauty of youth.
The evening opens with "Big Picture," by Levine, an absurdly tragic skit enacted by Laurel residents Rachel Kilgallon (12) and Angelique Mondesir (15); and twin sisters Alexis and Allison Thompson (19), Morgan Wenerick (16) and Juliet Beach (17).
Their collective energy catches fire the moment Alexis Thompson launches the first act with, "We're being taken out!"
Audience members should quickly solve the adorable puzzle of who (or what) the lively characters are (their costumes are the first clue) and suspend disbelief for what comes next.
Levine's "The Prodigal Cow," which follows, presents an equally absurd telling of a more familiar story. As Calf on opening night, Rebecca Korn (15) delivered a performance as imaginative as her costume, as did Erica Ridge (16), who made a sympathetic and believable Kid.
"Misfortune," also written by Levine, shifts the theme from anthropomorphic to suspenseful. This third act picks up at the end of a dinner date with a fortune cookie predicting, "The person you just had dinner with will kill you tonight."
As the likely victim Barry, Korn builds her character's growing anxiety in "Misfortune" with skill, while Beach as Stephanie is suitably threatening and also quite funny with lines like, "I wonder how I'll do it."
And as the obtuse (or is she?) waitress Cindy, Ridge appears to relish delivering tongue-in-cheek comments like, "Whoa, bummer," and "It's not the happiest fortune I've seen."
Next up is Kendra Simmons' "Dear Diary," a compassionate commentary on teen bullying. Mondesir delivers a sensitive performance as Kate, a teenager struggling to come to terms with her rocky self image.
As Meghan, Beach makes a wicked mean girl. And the Thompson twins play cheerleaders coerced into following her lead with a careful balance of mischief and regret, while Wenerick as Amanda shows genuine compassion and moral decency.
Although there were some noticeable timing problems due to audio (tech) stutters, typical opening night hiccups failed to dent "Dear Diary's" powerful message.
"Higher Education," by Marley, takes satirical pokes at the realities of the college education system and is well played by Wenerick as a bold student, Hanna Omran (14) in dual roles as the principal and an upperclassman, Korn as a tour guide and Beach as the admissions representative.
Of all the short acts, Marley's "Ruin" — a story about two sisters' early morning encounter — is the most puzzling. A serious piece dealing with psychological issues that are never explained, it poses many questions about where the dysfunction begins and ends in their relationship.
In spite of missing some key subtext in the script, Alexis and Allison Thompson manage to be totally convincing as sisters onstage as well as in real life.
Simmons has chosen to reprise "Monsters in the Closet," by Brown, which appeared at the Playhouse in 2011, for the finale.
A bit reminiscent of Maurice Sendak's classic children's tale, "Where the Wild Things Are," "Monsters" shows a young girl facing her fears with jaw-dropping results.
Rachel Kilgallon as Sally, Omran as Mom, Wenerick as Tom and Beach as Benny are outstanding.
Absent opening weekend, Mary Kilgallon (14), of Laurel, will join Simmons' delightful cast for the rest of the run.
The Young Adult Spring One Act Festival continues through April 12, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. General admission is $20. Students 18 and under, active duty military and seniors 65 and over pay $15. For reservations, call 301-617-9906 and press 2, or buy tickets online at laurelmillplayhouse.org.