Cappies. Required. One. Word. Speeches.

Intriguing.

That's the single word to describe the one-word acceptance speeches required Sunday night at the annual Cappies awards. In many cases, brevity was the soul of wit.

The Cappies, short for the Critics and Awards Program, trains high school theater and journalism students as critics. The student critics attend shows at other schools and write theater reviews, which then are published in local news outlets. At Sunday night's Cappies Awards Gala, the award winners stepped up to the stage to receive their accolades.

The one-word speeches were a novelty that kept the show moving along. It also provided inventive students an opportunity to mystify the audience with their cryptic one liners. Here's a selection of the one-word speeches as well as the winner's high school and award received:

Family

• "Mommy" -- Zach Erhart, Nerinx Hall, Featured Actor in a Musical.
• "Dad" -- Claire Zimmerman, Notre Dame, Supporting Actress in a Play
• "Parents" -- Alex Prakken, Nerinx Hall, Lead Actor in a Musical, as he blew a kiss to the audience.

Missing

• "Absent" -- Maura Madinger, Parkway Central, Sound.
• "Absent" -- Parkway Central, Orchestra
• "Absent" -- Mara Lesser, Parkway Central, Female Dancer.
• "Absent" -- Elyse Bertani, Rockwood Summit, Returning Critic.
• "Rapture" -- Andrew Buell, Ryan Biggs, Chloe Buckman and Nico Stringfellow, , Stage Crew, an apparent reference to the end-of-the-world prediction that was in the news Saturday.

Apologetic

• "Sorry" -- Mariah Garcia, Notre Dame, Lead Actress in a Musical.

Head-scratchers

• "Madea" -- Lily Cella, Nealey Wallis, MICDS, Make-Up.
• "Spaghetti" -- Kevin Hayes, Northwest , Choreography.
• "Enema" -- Joe Konroy, Bishop DuBourg, Comic Actor in a Play.
• "Forty" -- Kassandra King, Francis Howell, Graduating Critic.
• "Butch" -- Leading Ladies, Parkway Central, Play.
• "Lacrosse" -- Joe Essig, Nerinx Hall, Supporting Actor in a Musical.
• "Shenanigans" -- Hattie Smith, MICDS, Lead Actress in a Play.

Possessive

• "Mine" -- David Kirkman, Alec Swierk, McCluer, Creativity, as they went up together, both holding the award.

Theatrical

• "Le Figaro" -- Brandon Callahan, Holt, Featured Actor in a Play.
• "Marmee" -- Michelle Aschenbrenner, Notre Dame, Featured Actress in a Play, a reference to a character in Little Women.
• "Superstar" -- P.J. Palmer, Marquette, Male Vocalist.
• "Barricade" -- Caroline Amos, Nerinx Hall, Supporting Actress in a Musical, a reference to the barricades in the play Les Miserables.
• "Drag" -- Michael Price, Parkway Central, Lead Actor in a Play, a reference to his cross-dressing scam artists character.

Sharing

• "Benjamin" -- Allie Luecke, Nerinx Hall, Comic Actress in a Musical, a reference to costar Ben Weber.
• "Allison" -- Ben Weber, Nerinx Hall, Comic Actor in a Musical, a returning the favor in a reference to co-star Allison Luecke.

Mini-roar

• "Meow" -- Alex Green, Austin Jones, Matt Perry, Marquette, Ensemble in a Play.

Disbelief

• "Really?" -- Critic Team, Rockwood Summit.

Celebration

• "Woo-hoo!" -- Amanda Jerry, Nerinx Hall, Female Vocalist.