The plays here at Alisal give our theatre art students an opportunity to show their creativity in acting, which is every actor’s desire. The student actors of Alisal had the chance to come out in the fall play, Nerdlandia, which ran from December 5th through December 7th, and was based on Gary Soto’s 1999 book Nerdlandia.   

The play follows Junior Einstein (senior Michael Soto), the school’s biggest nerd, who falls in love with the most popular chola at school, Ceci (sophomore Yameli Manriquez). Throughout the play, Junior Einstein tried to become a cholo, and Ceci tried to become a nerd in order to capture each other’s attention. Both of their friends help them throughout their transition. In the end, they fall in love with each other, but only after showing their true identities.

The play was directed by English teacher Veronica Pulido. Although this was Pulido’s first time directing a high school play, she still felt comfortable with the theatre art scene because she took part in plays throughout her college years. “I received the opportunity to direct by Ms. Mosley, it was something new that I wanted to do as I’ve came out in plays, but had never directed.”

But it wasn’t like any of the other plays that have been performed at Alisal. Theatre Arts Teacher Mickie Mosley said, “Nerdlandia was a very successful comedy, it went well and made a lot of money. Ms. Pulido did a fantastic job directing the play. She was dedicated and put a great amount of her time into it.” Pulido said,”It takes an open mind, creativity, tons of hours after school, building a relationship with actors, and listening to those who have the experience already such as Mosley, the drama teacher. And humor, lots of it.” Daniel Salazar ( Junior), who played the role of Joaquin a.k.a Vato Loco, agreed that Nerdlandia was the most fun and most outgoing play he has done. “ So far, I have done four great plays, and none of them compare to the play Nerdlandia because it was a comedy.”   

The entire crew wowed me with their remarkable acting skills. Michael Soto, who played the role of Junior Einstein, was the star of the show. His role had the whole audience laughing out loud, including myself. Michael stated, “ Playing the role of Junior Einstein was a lot of fun. It was interesting for me being a cholo and speaking Spanish. The audience really seemed to enjoy it.”

There were other actors who had small parts in the play, but still made themselves stand out, such as Ricardo Morales, who played the Chicken Man. Yameli Manriquez’s chola attitude as Ceci had the audience very entertained with her mispronunciation of words and with character itself. Although there were only eight actors in the play, they all had their own moment to shine, from the leading roles, to the one minute stagers.

All of the character’s outfits were spot on. The cholo guys wore sagging pants, bandanas wrapped around their heads, and as you might expect, spoke with their cholo accents. Junior Einstein also had his nerdy look, including Ceci, when turned into one. Of course, I wasn’t the only one amazed by the play. “I was honestly waiting for the play to be released as the way I waited for movies to come out. I counted down the days in my head until Friday finally arrived. I watched the play and was definitely not disappointed,” said sophomore Victoria Cabrera. “ Normally I spend my extra money on like chips or ice-cream. This time I spent it on a ticket to see the play Nerdlandia. It was totally worth my five dollars.”

All in all, everything went fantastic from the actors, to the technical aspects. Pulido added,“ I hope more people get to experience the theatre. It’s a place where you can be yourself and show your creativity; a place to create.”  If Ms.Mosley ever does decide to re-run Nerdlandia, with the same actors or not; I’d highly suggest everyone to see this phenomenal ten out of ten comedy play.