PSJA Bears theater troupe hope to make state with heartfelt performance

SAN JUAN — Almost two decades since reaching the One-Act Play state contest, PSJA Early College High Theatre students are hoping to break that trend with a powerful performance that tugs at the heart with strong feelings of family, love and sadness.

The PSJA High Thespians and crew gave the community a UIL Regional-bound performance on Monday in San Juan, one of the last opportunities to perform in front of a crowd before competing on Thursday in San Antonio.

The students performed “Over the River and Through the Woods,” a play by Joe DiPietro which follows an Italian family in New Jersey that is having a hard time contemplating their grandson moving away to Seattle for work.

Family members and classmates attended the performance and gave a standing ovation to send off the group.

PSJA Early College High Theatre Director Jaclyn Benavidez said the play runs for about 38 minutes on a good day, which is important for the One-Act Play contest, which has to be under 40 minutes or else the group will be disqualified.

“The main message of this play is tengo familia and in Italian that just means with great family, with great heart towards family,” she said. “So this play really resonates around the message of being together with your family, making those moments matter, making every dinner, every meal, every moment that you have to make it the best that you can, because we’re never promised tomorrow.”

The theater group has not been to the state level of competition since 2006 when Benavidez herself was a sophomore playing a character in the same play.

“I was honored and blessed to have been a part of that production … and being able to reflect on that and seeing these students do a wonderful job with this show is just tremendous to see how much the UIL program has grown and how much talent and set and lighting and costume has all taken into effect grandly for this competition.”

The characters are played by Sean Trevino as Nick, Miguel Rodriguez as Frank, Hayden Lujan as Aida, Brianna Alvarez as Emma, Aiden Borrego as Nunzio and Sydney Jasso as Caitlin.

Nick accepts a promotion to everyone’s dismay and soon after his grandfather Nunzio dies of prostate cancer which gets Nick to question his decision.

Sean Trevino, as Nick, has his face cleaned by Hayden Lujan, as Aida, and Brianna Alvarez, as Emma, during the presentation of “Over the River and Thought the Woods” at PSJA High school Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Pharr. (Delcia Lopez | dlopez@themonitor.com)

Through more growth and pain from his other grandparents’ deaths, Nick finally appreciates how much they loved and cared for him, even though they desperately wanted him to stay in New Jersey.

The set is produced by first year Technical Director Hector Nunez, who alongside the students that helped on the set, gives a real feeling of a 1990s Italian home.

“I’m super proud of the students and the work that they put in,” Nunez said. “The technical aspect is amazing … a lot of people don’t consider the technical aspect, but just having these students build these things and help put the entire show together was amazing.”

The costumes are amplified by the student’s imitation of older Italian grandparents.

Alvarez said it feels a bit nerve wracking to be one of the few Valley schools left in the competition but she carries a sense of pride being able to represent the region.

“We have put so much heart and practice into this,” she said. “I’m excited to show other people what our show is about, especially other students who have never seen our show. I really hope that we can make each audience member feel something or relate to it in some sort of way.”

The senior describes her character, Emma, as a loud, unfiltered person who will talk to anyone in a grocery store.

“She also has a deep sense of heart and love for the people around her … she’s very open about her feelings, which I enjoy,” she said.

PSJA High School’s theater group proudly presented the play “Over the River and Thought the Woods.” A performance took place at PSJA High School Theatre Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Pharr. (Delcia Lopez | dlopez@themonitor.com)

Alvarez said one way she prepared for her role is when the actors had the chance to have long conversations with the director’s tio and tia and studied their mannerism, how they spoke and even moved around.

“My grandma came to watch today and people say we look exactly alike and kind of act the same,” she said. “I think it really is looking on people who we think remind us of these characters and really looking at them and what they do and doing that as well.”

One aspect of the character that Alvarez had to work on is the Italian side of the grandmother.

“We definitely watched ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and although it is very different, they are very similar in a lot of ways like that big crazy family,” she said. “We also watched a lot of ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘The Sopranos’ too, in order to get the accent and also the feeling of what we want to express to the audience.”

Assistant Director Sabrina Soto said the group made history last year by going to regionals for the first time in 18 years and are extremely hopeful they get to the next level this year.

“We feel the anxiousness and the nervousness but we want to be confident,” Soto said. “(UIL) only takes two schools out of the six that compete that day, so we’re hoping for the best and hopefully we can be one of the top two spots.”

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