By the school day’s end, THS is silent. Students are sitting in their classes, their eyes fixed on the blue screen on the TV, waiting for 3:11 p.m. to appear so that they can finally leave the prison that has held them captive for the last seven hours of the day. What awaits after are the various plans of each student. Some go home to a messy room determined to do homework, just to end up procrastinating and watching TikToks instead. Others go straight to the locker rooms to get ready for hours of practice that will leave them exhausted and with a hungry stomach. However, some students rush to the auditorium instead, leaving their heavy bags on the maroon-cushioned audience seats. They stand beneath the spotlights that throw ovals of light over the wooden stage as they passionately repeat the lines they’ve been memorizing for the past month and a half. Their routine requires effort and passion, but these actors know that their perseverance will be worth it. They know that on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th they will be able to present Love/Sick, a romantic play that will leave audience members’ eyes filled with tears of laughter and sorrow. 

According to Mr. Ahn-Cooper, the director of the play, Love/Sick consists of nine one-act plays that show different stages of romantic relationships. All nine mini-plays occur at 7:30 p.m. on the same Friday. Taking audience members through a series of trials from love at first sight to obstacles in marriage, the play displays the beautiful yet sad aspects of love. “Love/Sick is about love and loss, but I guess mostly loss,” Mr. AC said. Love/Sick, he said, enables the audience to follow “the cycle of a relationship, from the beginning, where they meet people… all the way through divorce, and what happens after divorce.” 

In the fall of 2014, THS produced Almost Maine, an original play by John Cariani. Cariani later published Love/Sick in 2016, and when Mr. AC read it he “knew immediately that that was the play that [he] wanted to do.” Though he had looked at some Shakespeare plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he strongly believed that Love/Sick was the play that would be the best fit for this year. 

Although Tenafly students will not be able to relate to the aspects of being married or divorced, there are important lessons that can be taken from Love/Sick. The play emphasizes how “you never really know how things are gonna go,” Zoe Koblence (’25), who plays Mel, said. “When you guys get older and you get married, I know that you might have so many high hopes, but you can’t expect how it will turn out.”  Communication, patience, and respect also play big roles in Love/Sick, teaching the audience that it is important for individuals to know what “they want out of the relationship, what they’re experiencing, how things have changed for them,” Sivan Yoskowitz (’23), who plays Jill, explained. “Because a lot of the situations that happen in this play come out of bad communication.” Nonetheless, despite the play’s deep emotional ties and moral messages, it is able to maintain a great balance with a humor that will bring laughter to both students and parents. However, not all the humor is appropriate for elementary school students, according to cast members and Mr. AC.

Love/Sick has also inspired cast members off-stage. The cast has not only grown as a family but as individuals. Arda Oral (’24), who plays Andy, describes working in the THS Performing Arts Department as an experience that has “changed him for the better,” improved his confidence, and introduced him to amazing people. “I’ve been able to connect with a community that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else,” Oral explained.

Love/Sick will be performed live at the THS Collins and Auditorium on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th at 7:30 p.m. With its love, humor, and sentiment, Love/Sick teaches important lessons to audience members while giving them a night to remember. The Love/Sick cast also encourages students to join the THS Performing Arts program to help make future performances like Love/Sick possible. “Please join it!” Ellie Wodeslavsky (’25), who plays Sarah, said. “But don’t take my lead part.”

Link to purchase tickets:

https://search.seatyourself.biz/webstore/accounts/tenaflyhs/buy-tix