A man walks into a restaurant, and orders enough hamburgers to feed a large family. Tucking into the food, he recounts a story of a disastrous affair he had in Italy—the story ends with his girlfriend screaming at him while airport security forcibly removes her from a flight home. But, the man says, the experience left him with one valuable lesson.

“No more girls I meet on the street.”

Seniors Yusra Murad and Marcus Alburez, junior Kit Rasmussen, and sophomore Maggie Vlietstra are self-directing a production of The Zig-Zag Woman.

“Our play is about a cafe attendant who is desperate for love and puts herself in a zigzag box, waiting to find her partner. As she waits to meet this man, people from all walks of life start coming in to her cafe and sharing their life story,” Alburez said.

Of the four actors, only Rasmussen and Vlietstra have recent experience in theater.

“Yusra and I decided to join the One Acts because we both see second semester of senior year as having the opportunity to try new things rather than do nothing. We figured it would be a great experience to give this a shot,” Alburez said.

Their lack of a director has presented a challenge, but the cast is making up for it with hard work, along with some instruction from Upper School French teacher Sophie Kerman.

“Self [direction] has proven to be a little hard as far as the technical aspects of plays go but it’s been a challenge that all four members of our play have taken really well and all contributed,” Alburez said.