Kevin Reed | Entertainment Editor
The One Act Festival is a celebration of student involvement in the theatre department by giving plenty of students the chance to direct and put together their own short single act plays. There are eight different plays being performed at the festival this year and each is student acted, directed and produced.
The students involved get to practice their theatre skills in whatever role they are in to better prepare them for the real world of theatre and acting. With so many different one acts, viewers can really get a taste of almost anything.
“The one-act festival is fun because there are so many different shows going up that you are sure to see something you will like,” said Rory Krehbiel, director of “Canker Sores and Other Distractions.” “Each director picked a completely different kind of show making this a hodgepodge of comedy, tragedy, and melodrama.”
Many of the plays have been selected from writers and playwrights like Mary Miller, Christopher Durang, Rob Urbinati and Sam Shepard.
Because the overall time for them to rehearse and put the acts together was a short three weeks, directors and actors have both had to use every bit of time they have to make their act as perfect as they can. Many of the plays involve simple sets and costumes because of how the festival is formatted. Each director and actor is putting their heart and soul into these one acts to make sure they captivate the audience throughout the entire act.
“Fourteen Hundred Thousand” is a short play being directed by junior Hunter Atkin that was written by playwright Sam Shepard.
Atkin shared his reasoning for choosing this playwright for his act: “Shepard is a great playwright because he has this really specific way of writing, because his characters act realistically but their actions and the things they say are out of the blue and strange. Often the dialogue doesn’t make sense because it’s less about the dialogue and more about the relationship between the characters.”
In “Fourteen Hundred Thousand,” a husband and wife move into a new home that’s 10 stories up, and instal a new bookcase that holds fourteen hundred-thousand books. Atkin is new to the directing world. Because of his recent exposure to it, he believes he has found his calling in directing. Atkin described this “This year is a really big year for directing for me, because I have never really directed. I’ve acted a lot more than I have directed … The more I do it the more I actually really enjoy it and I think I’d like to pursue directing in the future.”
“Canker Sores and Other Distractions,” a play written by Christopher Durang, is being directed at the festival by Rory Krehbiel.
Krehbiel described the play: “‘Canker Sores and Other Distractions’ is ‘bout a couple who is trying to get back together after several years of being divorced. Their reunion, however, soon dissolves into fighting.”
The author Durang has been known for his comedic playwriting bordering the extreme. Krehbiel described her thought process of choosing this play to recreate; “I knew I wanted to direct a comedy from the moment I got accepted to work on this project. My concept has definitely been the idea of perfection and then disruption interrupting it. A visual for that might be a quiet lake and then someone starts throwing rocks into it.”
“Hazelwood Jr. High” is a thriller story about a group of middle school girls whose classmate has just been brutally killed. Originally written by Rob Urbinati, this short is both dark and thrilling. Mindy Mawhirter and her crew will be recreating this chilling play.
Another play being displayed at the festival is “Ferris Wheel” written by Mary Miller, and directed by Carina Ramirez, a fifth year Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre major. This play takes you through the course of what happens when a woman, who’s scared of heights, and a man who just quit smoking are put together on an old creaky Ferris wheel.
“I’m really excited to finally see the play performed,” said Ramirez. “I’m also happy knowing that I was able to extend my experience in theatre by adding directing to my profile.”
Other acts being preformed include Roseanna Beth Whitlow’s “Thistle Blossoms,” a chilling drama between a college student and her strict professor, being directed by Alex Schlientz; “Studio Portrait,” a bittersweet comedy by Arlene Hutton about photographer and his nervous subject, directed by Nicole Gebbie; “Playwriting 101,” being directed by Tera Lopez, originally by Rich Orloff about an instructor teaching his class the art of playwright; and “The Adventurer’s Club” by Damian Woodsbeing, a story of a group of young adults putting together an adventure plan, directed by Kevin Huang.
The festival runs April 19-21. Viewers will be given a wide variety of plays to watch from thrillers, to comedy, to bizarre drama and tragedy. Tickets will be $3 at the door. Each team is hoping to showcase the work they have been putting together for weeks for attendees and take them away to a whole new place for a short time.
The festival gives anyone who attends a little bit of everything from drama to comedy and gives theatre students a chance to branch out and try taking the role of director.
Contact the author at kreed17@mail.wou.edu
April 19th and 21st at 7:30 at RA 113
Fourteen Hundred Thousand
The Adventurer’s Club
Hazlewood Jr. High
Canker Sores and Other Distractions
April 20th at 7:30 and 21st at 2:00 in RA 113
Thistle Blossoms
Studio Portrait
Playwriting 101
Ferris Wheel
Photo by: Paul F. Davis
