\u201cI\u2019ve never been comfortable being seen,\u201d was a powerful line at Berkeley High School\u2019s annual student-led production of \u201cOur Monologues,\u201d which thoroughly exceeded audiences expectations. An accumulation of 28 predominantly individual performances, or \u201cmonologues,\u201d every single one awed the onlookers with their diverse stories and emotions. Directed by BHS juniors Vivian Roston and Ernst Wang, the show had performances on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23 and 24, 2026, at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley. Today, the purpose of \u201cOur Monologues\u201d is to uplift and share the stories of real BHS students. \u201c\u2018Our Monologues\u2019 exist to give voice to experiences and thoughts that people have about their life and to tell true life stories about being a teenager,\u201d BHS sophomore Benjamin Schechter, who performed in the show, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The production for the show was a lengthy process. It begins with acquiring the monologues that will be performed in the show. This year specifically, directors Roston and Wang had over 130 submissions to narrow down to just 28. The majority of the pieces were submitted anonymously. \u201cThat\u2019s something that\u2019s hard,\u201d BHS sophomore Lily Neta said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know who wrote your monologue, and you can\u2019t contact them, and you have to try to convey the artist\u2019s thoughts and feelings in the way that was intended,\u201d Neta said.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the year, the cast of \u201cOur Monologues\u201d have met once a week to catch up and practice. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The show started with a quick message from the directors, appreciating the lighting techs and teacher supervisor, Victor Aguilera, before the lights dimmed and the show began. All students and performers walked out on stage at once, dressed in black and seated on the floor in a semi-circle. The first piece of the night was titled \u201c16,\u201d written anonymously and performed by Ellah Altman. While thoroughly emotionally vulnerable, it told the story of how life passes one by. A perfect representation of a fleeting childhood, it was an impressive start to the production.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another highlight of the show was the piece \u201cAlways and Forever,\u201d written and performed by siblings Lily and Avi Neta. A poignant piece, performed stylistically in back and forth monologues \u2014 it explored existentialism. Despite the fact that typically monologues only include one person, this piece was a welcome and thoughtful change that really got the audience thinking. \u201cI wrote it based on my past struggle with my mental health, and a lot of the thoughts I had during that time,\u201d Lily Neta said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Performers continued to surprise the audience with a wide variety of pieces that were being performed. They ranged widely, including stories on parent divorce, transgender identity, college applications, and the expensiveness of a sandwich. While the majority of the performances were often dramatic or emotional, the directors did an excellent job also tying in more comedic and light hearted monologues which kept the flow of the show from being too heavy. This included pieces like \u201cCelebrity Crush,\u201d performed by BHS senior Sydney Fair and written anonymously, which tells the humorous but truthful tale of what it is like to want someone\u2019s attention or appreciation, or \u201cSandwich,\u201d performed by BHS junior Ken Kemnitz and written anonymously, which analyzes how expensive everything in life truly is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0A particularly poignant piece is the anonymously written \u201cHow To Survive Drowning,\u201d also performed by Kemnitz, which told the story of someone\u2019s first year of high school and their mental health struggles. The longer monologue followed the character\u2019s first year of high school, and the struggles with losing oneself, seeking support, and relationships with family and friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed performing \u2018How to Survive Drowning,\u2019\u201d Kemnitz said, \u201cIt\u2019s a very truthful and vulnerable story that I can not only relate to, but I found pride in bringing (\u2018How to Survive Drowning\u2019) to the audience. It\u2019s a great story about struggle and recovery.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The final piece was entitled \u201cFan Mail,\u201d performed and written by BHS junior Charlotte Donaldson. The piece told her true life experience of visiting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the personal significance that it had to her. Lighthearted and enjoyable, it was the perfect way to end the show in that it highlighted the importance of live theatre and chasing your dreams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s \u201cOur Monologues\u201d was a stunning production exhibiting the beauty and the struggle of being a high-school student and teenager. The group of talented individuals worked together to masterfully execute a night full of power, storytelling, and truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019ve never been comfortable being seen,\u201d was a powerful line at Berkeley High School\u2019s annual student-led production of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-167479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-headlines","10":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}