Seven Diverse Plays Comprise One-Act Play Festival
The annual performance of Alma College’s One-Act Play Festival gives
audience members an opportunity to enjoy many different plays in a
single setting, says Matt Hutchinson ’07, a student director from
Merrill.
“There’s a variety of comedies, dramas, actors, directors and
works—there is something for everyone,” Hutchinson explains.
Alma College Theatre presents the 2006-07 One-Act Play Festival at 8
p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10 in
the Remick Heritage Center Theatre at Alma College. Tickets are $8 for
adults and free for Alma College staff, students and youth 18 and
under. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.
This year’s festival comprises a series of seven diverse plays, each
performed in a single act. All of the plays are entirely student run
and directed.
“It’s a chance for the upper-level students to direct a public
performance on-stage and for the younger members to get cast and design
experience,” says Hutchinson. “Students get to step in and do what they
might not get to normally do.”
Electric Roses, written by David Howard and directed by Emily
Aslakson ‘07, is a play uniquely explained in two perspectives. The
love story unfolds as a wife struggles with her decision to leave her
husband whom she still loves and must determine what she really needs
and wants to do with her relationship.
Beauty by Jane Martin is a comedy directed by Megan Gallagher
’08 involving a friendship between a model and an ordinary girl who is
granted three wishes by a genie. When the ordinary girl wants to
use her last wish to be beautiful, her model-friend intervenes to
discuss the merits and problems of beauty.
Dropping the Bomb is a play written by alumnus James Kuhl ’01
and directed by Philip Himebaugh ’07. The comedy follows the story of a
couple facing a popular problem: The woman wants to get married,
but the man is afraid that, if they do wed, all of the fun will be lost
from their relationship.
Who Made Robert DeNiro King of America by Jason Katims is “a
hilarious story about overcoming obstacles,” says Hutchinson, who
directs the play. Maggie, who is a wife and a writer, is experiencing
writer’s block, but her husband, Red, recently laid off from his job as
a construction worker, writes an angry screenplay, which Maggie’s agent
loves so much that she gets Robert DeNiro to star in it. However, the
luck switches for the husband and wife, causing many professional and
relationship problems.
Help, written by Neena Beber, is a comedic drama directed by
Rebecca Peacock ’08 that chronicles the interactions between a woman
volunteering in a soup kitchen and the woman working there who trains
her.
The Lemonade Stand written by Bryan P. Harnetiaux and directed
by Susie Smale ’07 is a comedy-drama about an encounter between a man
buying a house and a poverty-stricken woman he meets. The woman owns a
lemonade stand and is selling drinks to raise money to buy back her
house—the very home that the man is purchasing.
Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty, and Truth by Edward Allan
Baker is directed by Santana Vermeesch ’07. The serious and moving play
presents the relationships between two sisters and their uncle in a
“drama that highlights issues of abuse, love and family,” says
Hutchinson.
The One-Act Play Festival involves more than 50 Alma College students,
the majority of whom are pursuing a theatre major or minor. Theatre
Director Joe Jezewski, chair and associate professor for the theatre
and dance department, along with John Dalziel and Jonathon Musser
oversee the students’ work.
Please note that some of the plays contain explicit language and adult situations.
-ep-
Posted: Tue, November 28th, 2006 at 9:22AM
