They analyzed scripts, auditioned actors and blocked scenes.
Now, five Taylor students are preparing to showcase their self-directed plays in the upcoming One-Act Play Festival.
What began as work in the classroom is turning into full-fledged productions. Across the last two semesters, students have been focusing on how to block scenes, how to work with actors, and other necessary qualities for running a rehearsal.
This year’s directors include seniors Gavin Kastner, a musical theatre major; Miriam Shaffer, Grace Crews and Eva Reitzig, theatre arts majors; and Daniel Sanders, a film and media arts major; each telling a different story with different themes.
Kastner is directing “A Game,” written by Dennis E. Noble. It is a piece that begins with a lighthearted experiment disguised as a game, but quickly shifts to something darker, he said.
This rapid shift in tone is what drew Kastner to selecting this piece, and when casting, he chose actors who could embody this chasmic change.
“It goes from something very comedic, very fast-paced and witty and comedic, to something pretty dark, and you don’t really expect it,” he said. “It kind of balances these two genres, which is not very usual in my experience with plays.”
Alongside this, Kastner emphasized casting as a part of the directing process that he quite enjoys. The selection process involved looking for certain qualities in people and assessing how those traits could be molded to fit the play, he said.
Collaboration and experimentation are both central to the one-acts, the directors said.
With multiple plays drawing from the same group of actors, the directors had to coordinate casting decisions to ensure that everyone had their roles filled while maintaining the creative visions for their plays, Shaffer said.
“I have been wanting to cast a show for so long,” Kastner said. “I have always thought that maybe I have a good eye for it, and so it was exciting to be able to put it into practice and kind of confirm and deny that in some ways.”
In contrast to the dark nature of Kastner’s selection, Shaffer chose two satirical comedies: “Waiting for the Matinee” by Eric Coble and “He’s Having a Baby” by Fred Carmichael.
For her one-act, Shaffer has cast members with a range of experience, making the process different from what is often experienced in mainstage productions.
“One of my actors has only done Shakespeare,” she said. “She’s done quite a bit of it, but she’s only done Shakespeare. So now we’re working on getting a more contemporary and a more modernized acting style. Another actor has never been on stage in her life.”
For Shaffer, the One-Act Play Festival specifically offers a more flexible environment for actors of all backgrounds. The smaller scale of the production allows the actors to experiment in ways they may not normally do, and it gives those who enjoy acting a chance to do it in a program that works around other activities that they’re involved in.
Crews’ one-acts are “Brights” by David Smilow and “Flop Cop” by Laura Cunningham. Both are dark comedies that explore themes of grief, mental health, and connection with others in a very humorous and relatable way, Crews said.
“Brights” follows the unraveling of a playwright inside a theater, and “Flop Cop” takes place completely inside a car as tensions rise between the four passengers, she said.
For Crews, the variety of these pieces means she must balance physical intensity with deep emotions. The process has been a challenge, but it is the hope of the directors that audiences will come ready to experience new art, she said.
The One-Act Play Festival will take place on the evening of Dec. 4 in Mitchell Theatre. No tickets are required, but seating is limited.
“Go into it with open hands and open hearts, and willing to just have a good time,” Kastner said. “There’s nothing to expect, other than for us to do our thing, for actors to get up there with lights and set and sound and tell a story.”
