Last year’s One-Act debut at Tracy Area High School was the first step in a learning process. This year, the One-Act advisor, Kari Fransen, hopes to take that next step.
And not only do some members of the cast bring with them experience from last year, this particular play will test them in different ways.
“It’s very much about what all of today’s students go through,” said Fransen. “This is a much greater challenge for us as a cast. Our play last year, we loved it, but there was not a lot of movement or transitions, and this has a lot of that. We are hoping this gives us the opportunity to showcase more of our skills as a cast.”
This year’s play is called “The Struggles” by playwright Kendra A. Thomas and published by Pioneer Drama Service. “The Struggles” centers around Megan, a teenaged girl coping with dyslexia and ADD.
“We’re very excited about this story,” said Fransen, a teacher at TAHS. “The other characters in the play are basically her inner thoughts.”
Those characters are Megan’s struggles and range from motivating and engaging, to voices found within ourselves — “you’re not good enough, you’re stupid, things like that,” said Fransen. “Sometimes the struggles themselves are at odds when speaking to Megan.”
The play covers about a week’s worth of school, only in a kind of dream-like world, one filled with embarrassment, late papers, missed assignments and forgotten homework — typical high school issues kids deal with all the time.
“Teachers struggle with not getting homework from her, she’s late for class, her mom struggles with her because she won’t keep things organized,” Fransen said.
But Megan also has many skills, Fransen said. She’s an artist and is very passionate about sea animals, possessing a rich education on things like sea turtles and sharks.
“The struggles in the play eventually start showing her things about her own future,” Fransen said. “That kind of inspires Megan to love herself and who she is.”
The sub-section competition is Jan. 24, 2026, at MACCRAY High School. Schools that score in the Top 2 will move on to sections. The TAHS team might not have fared as well as they hoped last year, but needless to say, they did learn from it. One of the lessons Fransen hopes has sunk in is staying in character throughout the play.
“We all still remember when we got our feedback last year,” Fransen said. “It was constructive, but it was stuff that we were like, ‘Oh, how did we miss that?’ I’ve been reminding the kids a lot about how something was a big ding on our score last year, like projecting your voice and when somebody else is speaking, it can sometimes be a struggle for a student to stay in character and keep the facial expressions going. That was a huge issue for us last year.”
“The Struggles” cast:
Gracelynn Struchen, Megan Chloe Sweetman, One Serena Muscatello, Two Wilson Vue, Three, Math Teacher Unisia Moua, Four Miranda Larson, Five Sophia Harsh, Six Danica Paulsen, Seven Nou Thao, Mom; Science Teacher Keiana Xiong, Sasha Jane Quist, Brittany; Art Teacher Gatlin Struchen, Counselor, Paul, Art Manager
