They came as actors and actresses. They came as playwrights, directors and producers. They came as regular students with no stage experience whatsoever.
Regardless of their previous experience, students enrolled in the class Short Play Festival have all found their theatrical calling-and most of them have found more than one.
The 2007 New Works Festival: Blood and Air is the culmination of a semester's worth of effort for students in this class. Covering everything from writing and directing to acting, they have produced six original, ten-minute plays to be performed for the public. The students agree that the opportunity has been challenging, but informative.
"We're doing everything on our own so it's like a small theater production company," said freshman Kana Hatakeyama. She, like many of the students in the class, is directing one play and acting in two others.
This year's festival name, Blood and Air, is also the title of the first play. Freshman playwright Bethany Hill describes it as the story of two star-crossed Latin lovers who can't live with each other and can't live without each other. The lovers spend a dramatic 10 minutes quite literally dancing around one another, and they set the tone for the festival with their intensity and humorous edge.
"I want to encourage people who don't normally go to the theater to come to this show," Hill said. "We have comedy, tragedy, everything-it's a great taste of what the stage has to offer."
The wide variety of genres is a reflection of the diverse interests and skills of the class.
"It's cool because the average kid in the class isn't necessarily a theater kid," said senior Danny Bischoff. "But everyone's been really committed and hard-working."
Bischoff wrote Mad Gardening Party, a snapshot of a married couple's life. The plot involves a husband who tries to write poetry in his room, while his wife is working in the garden and constantly interrupting him.
"Basically, it's an allegory for having sex," Bischoff said.
This year marks the third time that professors Jay O'Berski and Andrea Stolowitz have taught the Short Play Festival class, but the festival has existed in various incarnations for many years.
"I think the class is extremely important because it trains students in a mentored capacity," Stolowitz said. "I expect it to be sublime."
The 2007 New Works Festival: Blood and Air will be showing from Wednesday, April 18 to Saturday, April 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for students and senior citizens. All six plays will be performed each night.
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