Plays
When I was in high school, I wrote a short play called Action Hero, which was performed and directed entirely by fellow students. It was one of the first times I ever saw something I had written come to life onstage, and the experience left me with a deep appreciation for the collaborative magic of theater. Action Hero is a compact, fast-paced three-man play centered on a pair of hapless mobsters who find themselves in over their heads. On the run from the boss of their syndicate and desperate for cash, they decide their best chance at survival is to stage a bold, if slightly ill-advised, bank robbery.
Their plan, at least on paper, is flawless—timed perfectly, meticulously thought through, and just barely within their limited skill set. The trouble begins when an unexpected visitor walks into the bank at the worst possible moment: the stickup man’s all-time favorite movie star. Confronted with his celebrity idol in the middle of a high-stakes crime, he falters spectacularly. What follows is a cascade of comedic missteps, awkward fanboy rambling, and improvised cover stories so ridiculous they border on surreal. The tension between criminal ambition and starstruck panic drives much of the humor, and the play’s charm lies in watching everything unravel in real time.
Although I wrote the original script, I credit much of the play’s comedy to the wonderful student actors and the student director who brought it to the stage. They infused every line with energy, timing, and personality that I could never have imagined while drafting it alone at my desk. Their performances transformed the story from a simple school project into something genuinely joyful. It’s a small achievement in the grand scheme of things, but remembering it still warms my heart.
To my delight, Action Hero was also nominated for a national youth playwriting competition. It was an unexpected honor that encouraged me to keep writing. A recording of the performance is available on YouTube, and even now, I still think it's cute.
