Marco Island Academy To Premiere New Christmas One Act O CHRISTMAS TREES
O Christmas Trees is the latest work from Marco Island Academy Performing Arts instructor, Christopher Dayett.
Marco Island Academy's theatre program will premiere a brand new one act play, O Christmas Trees, on Friday, November 21, 2025. The show will be presented on The Rhine Stage at Marco Island Academy.
On the morning of the first day of season, four Christmas trees - Ginny, Doug, Fraser, and Colorado - wake up on the tree lot and prepare for the big day. Excitement, anticipation, misunderstanding, and sadness fill the tent as the trees celebrate their differences and discover the common purpose that unites them all - the joy they will bring to families this Christmas season.
O Christmas Trees is the latest work from Marco Island Academy Performing Arts instructor, Christopher Dayett, whose musical, Torch: A Musical Tale, premiered at MIA earlier this year. Dayett wrote O Christmas Trees as part of a summer playwriting challenge in anticipation of taking the show to the District 13 Thespian One Act competition this November.
Marco Island Academy's theatre program is part of the International Thespian Society, the Honor Society for theatre. Each December, MIA's Troupe 8628 travels to NSU University School in Davie, FL, to compete in the District 13 Thespys Individual Events Competition. This year, the troupe will also be competing with O Christmas Trees at the District 13 One Act Competition on Saturday, November 22nd at NSU University's School AutoNation Center for the Performing Arts.
Competition rules give each participating troupe 40 minutes. Within that timeframe, they must move their portable set from its 6'x9' space backstage to its position on the stage, learn the sound and lighting equipment of the theater, perform the play, and then return the set to its space backstage. A troupe can be disqualified if they go over the 40 minute time limit, so this routine must be rehearsed as part of the play itself.
While O Christmas Trees is only 20 minutes, audience members at the preview performance on November 21st can expect to see a replication of the 40 minute experience - the timer will start, the set will get into place, the play will be performed, and the set will be taken down and put backstage. This is to give the troupe one final practice round before everything is packed in a U-Haul and trucked over to NSU University School the next day for the competition.
The production stars newcomers Madisyn Steiner as Ginny, the Virginia Pine, and Joaquin Perez as Colorado, the Colorado Blue Spruce, as well as returning MIA Theatre veterans, Samuel Zocco as Fraser, the Fraser Fir, and Lukas Beal as Doug, the Douglas Fir. Mr. Christopher Dayett, serves as the show's director and set designer. Dakota Tenney, a junior at MIA, designed the costumes. Her costume constructions have been awarded Superior at the District 13 Thespys competition the last two years. Luke Tirrell serves as Stage Manager, with Alexa Hamm as Assistant Stage Manager. Sound is by Ari Kuperman and Lights are by Colin Hinton. Sarah Bergman is on Running Crew.
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