Theatre was a huge part of my life in high school. It even convinced me to major in theatre in college. However, there was a specific aspect of theatre that brought out my competitive and sentimental sides: One Act Play. If you are or were a high school theatre kid in Texas, there's a pretty good chance you participated at one time or another in a One Act Play contest.

What is One Act play, you ask? That's a tricky one. If you've done it, it's hard to describe, and if you haven't, it's hard to understand. For months, high school-age thespians work on a show in (you guessed it) one act. The rules are anything but simple. Each high school can enter one play in the bracket-like system. The play cannot run one second over forty minutes. If it does, you're automatically disqualified. You have seven minutes to set up all of your set pieces and props, and seven minutes to strike them from the stage. There are restrictions on what parts of the stage you can use, what words are allowed to be spoken onstage, and how much fabric you can use in one set (no, really). Many directors see the rules as challenges, finding intricate loopholes that will later be questioned by multiple contest managers. However, even if you follow all the rules to a T and execute a phenomenal performance, your play may still not be chosen to place or advance. All this to say, there are some things that only One Act kids - and directors - truly understand.

1. What it feels like to finally run your show under time. I don't think there's a One Act director (or stage manager) that hasn't experienced the relief that comes with a full run under time. It's a sense of relief equivalent with finding your lost little brother in the grocery store. It's hard for you to even watch Netflix shows that run just over forty minutes.

2. Trying to survive show week. It doesn't matter if it's your first One Act or your twentieth. The week of show always seems to come with extra projects, last-minute emergencies, and sick actors. It doesn't matter if you're the lead, the director, a stagehand, or barely stepping foot on stage. For some, the nerves don't set in until you're in full costume and makeup. For others, the whole week before the first meet is filled with an unavoidable sense of anxiousness. Any small obstacle regarding the show turns into THIS IS IT THE WORLD IS ENDING THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH. Your family probably thinks you've lost it. If they value their lives, though, they won't say anything.

3. All the ever-changing rules. Don't use more than thirty seconds of one piece of music. Also, don't use more than ten minutes of music altogether. Actually, you can only compose your own music. Enough said.

4. Those rehearsals where absolutely nothing gets done. Although not everyone wants to admit it, every company has them. Sometimes, the show is a flop and it's three days to contest and everyone goes home freaked out. Other times, your cast is tired of rehearsing the same lines and blocking for two or three months straight and one slight change or mistake turns the whole show into a huge giggling mess. Although funny rehearsals are never particularly productive, they always make for great memories, and solid bonding is a huge part of the One Act process.

5. "Where's the _______?". A phrase, if spoken, that can directly strike fear into the heart of a OAP director or stage manager. There was always something not in the right place. As a high school one act stage manager, I learned that my director did not need to know if something was missing until it was definitely, without a doubt, one hundred percent not on the bus. My senior year, we advanced three times, allowing us to compete at four different locations over a month's time. Since each stage had different dimensions, we used a clear tarp (like a template) to help speed up tech rehearsal. Just before our Area meet, it was discovered that we'd left our tarp behind at the Bi-District meet, hosted by a school nearly two hours away. I don't know if I've ever felt terror course through my veins in quite the same way.

6. Tech rehearsal is the stuff of nightmares. In my opinion, it doesn't matter how nice or polite your director or stage manager is the rest of the season. Tech rehearsal is the one hour (55 minutes) of the year where they are allowed to become a three-headed, fanged, purple scaly monster from the deep. You'd better listen to them. As a stagehand freshman year, I learned that it was better to just nod and move quickly to accomplish whatever the stage manager needed. As a stage manager, I learned to expect the unexpected. Prepare for everything you've ever known to be flipped on it's head. It doesn't matter if the contest manager tells you to stop what you're doing, go to Starbucks and grab her a latte. Just go with it.

7. Trying to figure out who's advancing before it's announced. Whether you had a messy, rushed show or a smooth, balanced one, awards can be the most stressful part of the day for some people. All of your company members hold hands, cross fingers, and say prayers as they announce all of the All-Star Cast & Crew members. If your company is anything like mine, you try and do math as students are recognized to try and find a pattern - sometimes the schools with the most awards advance, and sometimes the judge(s) spread the wealth among all the competitors. Regardless of the pattern, sometimes it's your school that rejoices in relief, and sometimes you're disappointed. It doesn't mean your show wasn't fantastic, it just means it's not advancing.

8. Forming tight-knit relationships with your company. It's inevitable that when you spend every waking day with people, you'll either grow to love or hate them. Thankfully, my sophomore and senior One Act seasons are great memories of close friendships I made and witnessed. My senior year, I noticed multiple times how close our company had grown, and it was unlike any other group I've been a part of. I saw firsthand how the cast and crew went above and beyond to love and serve one another through a wild - but mostly fun - season. Between late night IHOP or Whataburger runs after contest, creating ridiculous inside jokes, and getting lost around host schools, I witnessed true fellowship. There's something unique about One Act, and it means that (with some effort) the people you work with will become some of your closest friends.

9. Finding something to do with your time when it's over. All good things must come to an end, and that includes One Act season. Suddenly, you're not spending 97% of your time at rehearsal after school, leaving you time for things like finally cleaning your room or turning in that homework assignment that's five weeks overdue. You may even have the chance to re-introduce yourself to your family after months of merely running into them like passing ships in the night. But first, you have to catch up on some much-deserved sleep.