The Cards of Fate
at Annandale High School

Reviewed on May 8, 2021

Julia Tucker
Westfield High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

Welcome back to Cards of Fate, the sensational game show where one trivia question can alter the course of a person's life! Correct answers yield glamorous prizes--shiny cars, stacks of cash, and storybook endings. Incorrect answers, however… well, who needs happy endings anyways! So grab some popcorn and prepare to watch Annandale High School's dazzling production of The Cards of Fate--and hope that the cards are dealt in your favor!

Ed Monk wrote the one-act play The Cards of Fate. A dark comedy, the play spins the concept of a game show on its head by incorporating punishments to the contestant (and unwilling participants) for answering incorrectly. The stakes are raised with each wrong answer, and the fateful cards begin to toy with health, life, and death.

The filming for the production took place both online and in person. The hybrid format created a cohesive, distinctly "game show" feel through detailed planning and execution--the host and contestant acted on stage while reacting to the online scenes, conveniently displayed on a screen between the actors. The cast's exuberant energy transcended the screens they performed behind and lent itself to the actors forming evident on-stage relationships.

Hunter Duggan and Rigby Eggert took center stage as the puppeteers of fate. Duggan embodied the amoral host, Buffy Youbetcha: he exuded energy that epitomized the bubbly game show host stereotype while also portraying Buffy's indifference to the well-being of others. Eggert represented the everyman as his character Nick Kowslowski--the humble contestant--learned the true implications of the game he played. Both actors reflected the devolution of their characters as they played the game. Duggan's shaky voice depicted Buffy's insecurities about being the host; similarly, Eggert's shock and guilt over the effects Nick's wrong answers had on the livelihood of others revealed Nick's terror of being in control of fate.

Cinnamon--the show's co-host, played by Han Le--kept a steady banter with Buffy throughout the show, which was especially noteworthy because the pair acted through the digital divide. As part of the ensemble of unwilling contestants, Mariam Sesay and Haleluya Worku created strong dynamics in all their vignettes together. Sesay's overly enthusiastic persona as Susan's Mom balanced out Worku's frazzled portrayal of Susan, whom the cards of fate had dealt a bad SAT score. In a separate scene, Sesay was the hysterical mother while Worku portrayed the calm nurse. Otto, played by Nia Collins, emerged at the end of the show: her shocking reveal, with Otto bearing an executioner-style ax, epitomized the play's absurdity.

The student director, Han Le, skillfully cast and directed the ambitious production. Her choice of Zoom backgrounds established each different set and even provided different perspectives on the same setting. However, the actors took their costuming and makeup into their own hands: the virtual ensemble (Miguel Orozco, Imani Brown, Bard Royer) made intelligent choices in their costuming to further distinguish their various characters from one another.

The cards have been dealt… is fate in your favor today? Annandale High School's thrilling production of The Cards of Fate raised questions of morality, destiny, and chance--and left everyone yearning to know what happens after the commercial break.

Marlene Brasco
St. Paul VI Catholic High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

"C'mon down" to Annandale High School's "The Cards of Fate" to win the Daily Double of a comedic yet theme-driven show.

With a challenge presented by in-person and virtual actors, Annandale's students performed playwright Ed Monk's "The Cards of Fate" in which a right or wrong answer from a participant controlled the destiny of people's lives. Show hosts Cinnamon and Buffy Youbetcha initially introduced contestant Nick Kowslowski to the game with conundrums involving prom dates, SAT scores, and graduation mishaps. The plot advanced with the worsening of fates, different phases of one's life, and, ultimately, death while the show hosts' anxiety intensified the show's absurdity.

The actors were the true winners in this game, phoning their virtual friends to make for an unforgettable performance. Exaggerated acting provided juxtaposition for the dark subject matter of bleak fates as Hunter Duggan (in-person Buffy Youbetcha) and Han Le (virtual Cinnamon) bubbled with banter despite the in-person/virtual gap. Aware of his body language and inflection, Duggan displayed incredible range as he transitioned from the exuberant show host to a crumbling version of himself during a commercial break. Rigby Eggert, (in-person Nick Kowslowski) cued the viewer that this was truly a farce of a game show. Nia Collins (in-person Otto) used over-the-top facial expressions to offset the unfortunate fates while holding up the unlucky prize of death in the form of an ax! Multi-cast, the virtual actors, especially Imani Brown, utilized varying body language and vocalization to communicate a differentiation of characters. Noteworthy was the foil-character relationship between Mariam Sesay and Haleluya Worku as the mother-daughter characters displayed a contrast in elation and deflation over an SAT score that transcended Zoom screen limitation.

"Survey says" that the tech job ensured a cohesive performance. Han Le, who also played the spicy Cinnamon, cast and directed the show over Zoom. Additionally, she selected Zoom backgrounds that not only established the setting but gave the illusion that the actors were in the same location. Backgrounds of different rooms for the SAT scene combined to look like a real home. Le, Duggan, and Eggert's stage blocking was not only socially distant but innovative as it allowed for the interaction between in-person characters and a large screen in between them. This ingenuity provided a platform for the virtual students and accentuated the game-show trope of a prize board. Styrofoam heads placed across the apron of the stage hauntingly echoed the theme of the fates that lay in the balance of Otto's ax. Costuming and makeup, done by each individual actor, contributed to the eccentricity of the game show as Duggan's loud, pink outfit and lipstick contrasted Eggert's ordinary clothes that immersed him in the role of the everyman archetype.

Beneath its veneer, the show delivered a moral that one must question the means by which one receives entertainment. The idea of a captive audience was made literal as each member of the game show became entangled not only in others' fates but one's own fickle fate due to arbitrary ratings. In the play's cliffhanger-ending, the audience was left to interpret whether Kowslowski chose to sacrifice his own life for the sake of another's fate; one was then left to question how one would act in the same situation. As one must sort through these difficult choices, one thing is certainly clear: Annandale High School was game for the show. And yes, that is this reporter's final answer.

Aidan Wilbur
Thomas Wootton High School
Submitted for publication to FCPS Community News

Success was in the cards for Annandale High School, whose production of The Cards of Fate was a full house. Each member of their talented cast and crew was royalty, and they worked together to ensure that success was their only fate.

The Cards of Fate is a dark comedy written by Ed Monk, and was first performed in 2002. The titular game show has contestants answer a series of questions, with a complete stranger's future on the line. As contestant Nick Kowslowski's streak of wrong answers grows, the intensity of the strangers' fates only increases. How low will Cards of Fate's production team stoop to boost their ratings?

The entire ensemble did a phenomenal job of remaining engaged and energetic throughout the performance. Even virtually, they kept their characters consistent through the entire show and maintained connections with each other. Game show host Buffy Youbetcha (Hunter Duggan) showed a wide range of emotions, keeping up a face of soulless comedy and breaking down behind it. This energy was mirrored by contestant Nick Kowslowski (Rigby Eggert), who built up emotions nicely, working up frustration and fear to a boiling point throughout the play. In addition, a whole deck of actors played multiple roles, and each of them demonstrated their versatility in making an entire flush of distinct personalities. Miguel Orozco, who played high schooler Bob, college student Larry Parks, and a father, went from excitement at asking out a potential prom date to horror and fear as he saw his daughter in the hospital. Mariam Sesay, who played Bob's friend and two different mothers, showed comedic pity, excitement at her daughter's prospects, and the same fear when seeing her other daughter in the hospital. Imani Brown, who played Bob's crush Beth, a punk college student, and middle-aged Alice Walker, covered teenage romance all the way to crushing heartbreak. Haleluya Worku, who played student Susan Zimmerman, college student Bambi, and a hospital nurse, demonstrated anger and frustration, kindness, and a solemn delivery, all of which she gave with a fantastic stage presence. To top it all off, literal executioner Otto (Nia Collins) provided a comedic interlude in a moment of high tension, and Collins's gruff delivery brought the jokes home perfectly.

The cast was dealt an amazing hand in student director Han Le. Her work in planning shots, leading rehearsals, and even picking the virtual backgrounds for the hybrid show, streamlined the production process, and these masterful touches brought the performance up another level. The cast also supplemented their performances with hand-selected costumes and makeup, which provided a realistic yet unique and personal touch to each character. Both the student direction and technical elements brought a fresh viewpoint to each character and helped to bring the show to life.

The high-rolling company of Annandale High School created a stellar performance in The Cards of Fate. The actors' artful balance between comedic timing and dramatic moments created a series of surreal yet believable characters and moments. With the guiding hand of their student director, each student had a hand in this incredible production.

Carolyn Saxe
Thomas Wootton High School
Submitted for publication to Patch (Fairfax/Alexandria)

If you can just answer this next question, you could win Ten! Million! Dollars! Or, if you can't, some random person might die, and you get to watch their loved ones' hearts break right on screen! Now, your question is…

How was Annandale High School's production of The Cards of Fate? Take some time to review the information. Written by the theatre teacher Ed Monk, this dark comedy examines fate and consequence through the titular game show. The sanguine host Buffy quizzes the lone contestant Nick with trivia and an empty smile as fate befalls innocents on the screen between them.

The show utilized a wonderful hybrid of virtual and in-person recordings to construct the set of a game show. Buffy, Nick, and Otto came together in the black box studio in clear masks while the other actors recorded from home aided by virtual backgrounds.

Buffy Youbetcha, played by Hunter Duggan, was strikingly and scarily trivial, in both senses of the word. He perfected that strange up-beat energy that game show hosts always seem to employ and equally captured her self-centered desire to be ‘real'. Across the stage from her squirmed Nick Kowslowski, the embodiment of normalcy in a strange world, played by Rigby Eggert.

The rest of the actors were incredibly cohesive despite their virtual setting and differentiated their many parts with thoughtful physicality and voice. Despite being virtual, Cinnamon (Han Le) matched Buffy's energy and superficiality in their banter together. Otto's face was covered by a black mask, but that didn't stop Nia Collins' comically expressive eyes from taking the show even further into absurdity.

All the actors functioned loosely as their own tech crew in this show. Han Le was the sole student director, and it was obvious she put in a lot of work. The pacing of each scene was excellent, the actors had chemistry, and the virtual backgrounds that she chose were amazingly apt. Each actor was their own hair and make-up person, and not a thing was out of place, from Buffy's glamorous outfit and bright lipstick behind the clear mask to a slovenly punk to Nick, the perfect everyman. The in-person set also made terrific use of the black box space and whatever props Hunter and Rigby could get their hands on, including ominous foam heads, a "No" button, and more. The spotlights isolated both Buffy and Nick at their music stand podiums and surrounded them with darkness.

No pressure, but your fate is already set. Are you ready to answer?

Leah Blum
South Lakes High School
Submitted for publication to Connection

Will the contestant get lucky and win big, or will some poor, unsuspecting person get their life ruined at the flick of a switch? Find out in this performance of Ed Monk's "The Cards of Fate" at Annandale High School!

In the twisted universe of the play, "The Cards of Fate" was a game show hosted by the over-the-top Buffy Youbetcha (portrayed by Hunter Duggan) with the assistance of Cinnamon (Han Le). While Buffy presented trivia questions to the contestant, in this case an awkward, frazzled Nick Kowslowski (Rigby Eggert), Cinnamon revealed the real-life consequences for random people outside of the game, their fates depending on the accuracy of his answer. As Nick continued to answer incorrectly, much to the cynical pleasure of the hosts, the repercussions for the game show's victims got worse and worse, also following the flow of life from high schoolers to parents. While the first question landed an unfortunate Bob (Miguel Orozco) without a prom date with which to follow through with his expensive plans, as the game went on, it became a matter of life and death and Nick was ultimately made to decide his own fate.

As Buffy, Duggan captured the essence of a game show host: bright, peppy personality onstage, laughing at every opportunity, as well as an authoritative, impatient powerhouse in show business when the cameras were off. The voice he used emulated the classic game show host, powerful and just friendly enough to entice naive contestants like Nick to play the game. Eggert displayed Nick's progression throughout the course of the show well, beginning as an excited fan and devolving into moral chaos as the game went on. Miguel Orozco, Mariam Sesay, Imani Brown, and Haleluya Worku each played multiple characters in situations affected by the games, each creating excellent on-screen chemistry with their castmates over Zoom. Near the end of the show, Nia Collins emerged as the stand-by executioner, Otto, for "The Cards of Fate" game show, staying mostly silent but thriving onstage as, even in the darkest moment of the performance, the allusions to popular game shows in reality continue.

The show's format, a hybrid of actors onstage, socially distant and wearing face masks, as well as actors communicating over Zoom, was perfect for a story like this. Han Le, who directed the play, chose backgrounds for the virtual portion which were perfect for creating an appropriate setting and environment for each scene. In some scenes, all the actors had the same background, which created the illusion of two people talking to each other in a school hallway. In others, actors had different backgrounds from the same environment, which effectively created space within the virtual setting. The costumes, contributed for each character by their respective actors, were wonderfully unique and served efficiently in differentiated characters played by different actors from scene to scene. Duggan's costume for Buffy, a mostly-bubblegum pink outfit, radiated game show host energy. In one of the virtual scenes, Brown played a punk with fingerless gloves, and mostly-black clothing, which distinguished the characters and characterized them in spite of their few lines.

The play as a whole brought about questions of the consequences of modern entertainment and reminded people to consider how their choices and wants affect others. Though dark, the show was an enjoyable comedy at its heart, for better or for worse. The ending was left ambiguous as Nick was forced to decide between his life and an innocent's. But, in true game show fashion, that would seem like the perfect time to cut to commercials.