Spring one-act play festival begins tonight in Withycombe
Student directed shows highlight student talent, start at 7:30 in Withycombe
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012
Updated: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 20:07
Starting today, audiences can come to the Withycombe Theater to see what Oregon State University theater students have learned about production.
The Spring One-Act Festival is an opportunity for multiple interested students to select a brief one-act play and run the show as director. Students select a cast and are responsible for the final outcome at the festival in May of each year.
“It’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it’s been fun,” said Davey Kashuba, a student director majoring in theater.
The casts of the one-acts range from new to experienced, which sometimes shaped the experience of directing into a teaching experience.
“All my actors were new to the OSU stage,” Tucker Minnick said, director of Mary Plowman’s “Get out of Your Cage.”
In contrast, Sarah McKinney directed Jack Junior “The Buccaneer’s Bairn” with only two actors, both of whom she had worked with before.
“It lowered my stress level significantly,” McKinney said, “especially since I had to teach them how to sword fight.”
During the directing process, McKinney additionally corresponded with Jeff Goode, the author of Jack Junior. “He responded to my e-mail completely in pirate language,” McKinney said.
“It’s really been a give-and-take relationship,” Megan Grassl said of working with actors regardless of their experience. Grassl is the student director of Crane Johnson’s Fear. “If I didn’t have their responses to what they’re doing on stage, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
The one-acts range from psychological thrillers to comedy and surrealism to slice-of-life.
All one-act plays run together each day of the event. The Spring One-Act Festival opens May 17 at 7:30 p.m. and continues through May 19. For those who can’t make it in the evening, the festival closes with a matinee at 2:00 p.m. on May 20.
Tickets start at $4 for OSU students. For more information, call the box office at (541)737-2784.
Annecy Beauchemin, reporter
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