Cortland High Theatre - Students, Alums & Fans

Congratulations to everyone nominated for this year's CRT Pavilion Awards!

The winners from Cortland include:

Puffs:
Shining Star- Sophia Ramiza and Braxton Towle
Audience Choice- Braxton Towle and Emelia Johnson
Directors Champion- Anelia Corbin and Sophia Ramiza

Guys and Dolls:
Shining Star- Braxton Towle and Alice Oldfield
Audience Choice- Bridget Madden and Adeline Morey
Directors Champion- Lillian Bulman and Andrew Camillo

One Act Play Festival:
Best Writing/Directing- Sophia Ramiza for her show, "Art Heist"

It was an incredible season and we are so proud of the combined efforts of the students and staff. See you next year!
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The cast and crew of the 2026 One Act Play Festival! Don’t miss their final performance today at 2pm.

Happy opening to the cast and crew! Join us tonight at 7 and tomorrow at 2. 🎭💜

One Act Play Festival. OPENS TONIGHT!

Thank you to Paige Kingsley with the Cortland Standard for covering this event! We are thrilled to be presenting these student driven productions tomorrow night and Saturday afternoon. Admission is free! Donate if you can!
To make an online donation visit cortlandhightheatre.yapsody.com

'One Act Play' festival returns to Cortland High School CORTLAND — Students in Cortland’s drama program are gearing up for another year of the school’s One-Act Play Festival this weekend. The difference between this show and the club’s past

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Cortland Video Club One Act Play Festival 5-3-2019

Did you know that the first CHT One Act Play Festival premiered in 2000?

Emily Card, a senior in a creative writing course, was the catalyst for the festival. While fellow students had an outlet for their poetry or short stories, she had none. She urged Bill Lee, the Cortland High Theatre advisor, to provide a venue to perform student scripts.

The first year presented the thoroughly researched, Hollywood-based “Beauty in White”by Lauren Modery; a theatrical romp “Crew Call” by Robert Hinds and Joe Hartley; a special faculty play “Radio Waves” by Bill Lee; and Emily Card’s introspective on adolescence relationships, “Random”.

From day one it was about students telling their own stories.

The festival has evolved in many ways but the students remain at the center.

Come support this proud tradition of storytelling and collaboration on May 1st at 7pm and May 2nd at 2pm.
🎟️FREE ADMISSION
💜Donations Accepted

Check out the amazing One Act Play Festival—featuring original works written by our very own students! Come support their creativity, talent, and hard work on stage. You won’t want to miss it!

One week until opening night! Come check it out!

Cortland ECSD YouTube Cortland ECSD Weekly One Act Plays

Meet our final director—

Braxton Towle!

Braxton is a Senior, and is the director of Grandpa Noir: Reimagined, written by CHT alumni Nicholas DeRado and Joshua Mekeel. He has been doing theatre for 5 years now, totaling somewhere over 25 shows. Braxton’s favorite roles he has played are Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls (CHT), Bud Davenport in Gutenberg The Musical (Homer C4A) and Lord Farquaad in Shrek (CYB). He has also performed in a workshop of Everybody’s Favorite Mothers at the Center for the Arts in Homer with the organization PFLAG which advocated for the rights of people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Braxton is going to SUNY Cortland for Business Economics. He would like to thank everyone in theatre that he has had the amazing opportunity to meet over the past 5 years, for truly making a difference in his life.

Don’t miss Braxton’s final farewell to the CHT stage on May 1st at 7pm and May 2nd at 2pm at Cortland High School!
🎟️FREE ADMISSION
💜Donations Accepted

Meet the writers and directors of this year’s One Acts!

Saya Gingrich 🎭

Saya is a Senior, and she’s directing “Magic is Real?!”, acting as Jeremy in “The Time Travelers Support Group”, and is a Museum Goer in “Art Heist”. She’s also enjoyed being in several other shows, including Puffs, Ranked, Cinderella, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, and 2022-2025’s One Act festivals, and previously directed “The Emo Invasion”. She enjoys gaming and is captain of the Mario Kart Esports team, and space related science. She plans to go to URochester this fall, and hopes to see an equally amazing theater program there. She can’t wait to see how this One Act festival turns out!

Don’t miss Saya in her big CHT send off on May 1st at 7pm and May 2nd at 2pm at Cortland High School!
🎟️FREE ADMISSION
💜Donations Accepted

Meet the writers and directors of this year’s One Acts!

Please welcome… Anelia Corbin!

Anelia is a Sophomore at Cortland and this is her first time ever writing and directing a One Act play. She has never been on stage but has been everywhere behind the scenes. Recently she was part of the pit orchestra for Guys and Dolls and played the trumpet. She would like to thank her parents for driving across town a million times a week and braving the potholes. She would also like to thank all of the amazing people acting in her show for being very fun to work with. She hopes to do this again next year.

Come see her show, That Time a Hero Saved a City, and others May 1st at 7pm and May 2nd at 2pm at Cortland High School!
🎟️FREE ADMISSION
💜Donations Accepted

Meet the writers and directors of this years One Acts!

Introducing… Katie Francis!

Katie is a Junior at Cortland High School. This is her fourth year doing One Acts but it is her first year directing a play that she wrote called “Detention Disasters.” She plays Nurse Janice/Tech Support Workers boss in “Grandpa Noir: Reloaded” and she is a museum goer in “Art Heist”. She would like to thank her parents for always encouraging her to try everything, her friends, her fellow and amazing cast members, and all of her amazing fellow directors.

Come see Katie’s directing debut May 1st at 7pm and May 2nd at 2pm at Cortland High School!
🎟️FREE ADMISSION
💜Donations Accepted