The Rochester Alliance of Theatrical Students performed the One-Act play ‘Day Dreams’ on Tues., Feb. 2 and Weds., Feb. 3 before taking it on the road for the weekend to drama paradise Love Fest. Few outside of the theatre club know what to expect each year with the one-act, and this year was no different.

“Day Dreams” was a delightfully wholesome story about, well, dreams. Not necessarily the ones we have at night, but the dreams that many high school students are starting to seriously consider for their future. This made the performance not only relatable, but real.

It tells a tale of not only high school, but where we end up after it. It is not the typical narrative of high school life, girl meets boy, and futures with no limits. “Day Dreams” tells of all the things that stories of high school so often skip. It announces the heartbreak, let-downs and victories of what comes with leaving. In a world where we so often see high school as lasting forever, this definitely breaks the stereotype.

Surely, it starts as a narrative of high school (in Spanish class, to be exact) where the story of Ariel (played by Katie Derkacz and Jessie Carl) and Quinn (played by Julian Karagounis and Ruben Medina) first begins. Of course, the entirely of the performance does not revolve around undying love between the same two people, which makes “Day Dreams” all the more interesting.

As the audience watches Ariel and Quinn start to fall in love throughout their high school years, the couple’s downfall becomes even more of a low point as their dreams start to conflict. Chasing the creative worlds, both start to lose each other.

As Ariel’s dreams lead her to fiction writing, and as Quinn drops out of his would-be dream school to chase a record deal, the audience witnesses the drifting apart of the characters. This is delightfully displayed with both adult versions of Ariel and Quinn are showed much later in life alongside scenes with high school Ariel and Quinn, as the two have a steady path not matching to the ones they had reminisced about together in high school. Ariel, now a journalist set up to interview the now-famous Quinn by a wild chance, finally reflects on her high school love and dreams that did not quite go her way.

With a delightfully satisfying ending, “Day Dreams” is something that, though more generic than some of Rochester’s previous One-Acts, is extremely true to real life.

As the conclusion draws closer, the themes of the performance shine through as big dreams don’t always work out, but something always does in their place.