Although for the most part I’ve enjoyed my scores of high school theater experiences over the years in almost every district in the county, I’ve got to admit I’ve seen some real clunkers.

For the sake of the kids, and my own sanity, I always manage to find some bright spots in the plays or musicals – but sometimes they’re few and far between. I’ve shifted uncomfortably in my seat many a time, waiting for a seemingly interminable act to end.

That’s precisely why I look forward to Sherburne-Earlville’s fall production every year – there’s no excruciating wait for the bright spots. That’s because director Colleen Law-Tefft annually stages a night of one-act plays – a dozen or so snippets of comedy or drama that generally last around ten or fifteen minutes. Don’t particularly care for one? Another’s coming along in the blink of an eye. For a pop-culture saturated media junkie like myself, it’s the perfect evening of theater for those with a preternaturally short attention span.

Last night, I had the opportunity to sit through the first half of this weekend’s selections, being presented at 7 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at the S-E auditorium under the title “Life, Love and Everything in Between.” Yeah, that pretty much covers it all, I’d say.

I must admit a little trepidation about seeing this year’s selections. For the past several seasons, I’ve ranted and raved in this space about a handful of Marauder actors who amazed me with their top-notch talents – and all of whom graduated in June. How would Colleen’s up-and-comers do without the first string? It may have been a rebuilding year for the S-E Drama Club, but I’d venture they’ve got a healthy stable of talent waiting in the wings.

The other neat part about an evening of short, one-act plays is that you truly get a sense of an ensemble theater company – that everyone’s important, and everyone gets their chance to shine on stage (and off, I assume, but they don’t let me backstage). That particularly holds true in this year’s “Life, Love and Everything in Between.” In addition to the large and varied cast each having a chance to tackle something completely different, several of the one-acts are student directed, and one is even student-written. Again, my hat’s off to Mrs. Law-Tefft, a drama club advisor truly invested in seeing her students expand their reach.