Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Department of Theatre Arts will host its student-directed One-Act Play Festival on Thursday and Friday, May 5-6, at in Verser Theatre. Thursday’s performances will begin at 8 p.m., and Friday’s performances will begin at 7 p.m. The festival is free and open to the public.

The One-Acts are a project for students enrolled in a directing course who are working to complete a theatre degree. Ten one-act plays will be performed over the two-day festival.

“It is our capstone course in the theatre,” said Dr. Scott Holsclaw, professor of theatre arts. “The directing student is responsible for all aspects of the play: choosing, research, casting, directing, design and performance.”

“Each show has elements that can relate to and encourage members of our community,” explained Kathleen Suit, a senior theatre arts major from Hot Springs, Ark. “One-Acts are just a blast to prepare and an even bigger blast to watch!” Suit will direct The Most Massive Woman Wins on Friday night.

“The thought of directing is somewhat scary but it’s also very exciting. We are given an opportunity to take a script and create something from it,” said Abby Root, a junior theatre arts and education double major from Arkadelphia, Ark. “I’m thankful OBU gives us the opportunity to direct our own show. They are truly preparing us for anything that comes our way.” Root will direct I Hate Mothers on Thursday night.

Holsclaw said he finds it exciting “to see what the students bring to the script. A script is just a blueprint of a play and the students’ creativity brings it to the stage and final performance.”

 

Thursday night’s performances include:

I Hate Mothers, directed by Abby Root, is a comedy by James Rayfield about two girls and a boy who are in a high school production. “One of the girls always gets cast as the mother. So, she decides during the show she doesn’t want to be a mother anymore,” Root said. “She starts changing the script and chaos ensues.” Performing in the play are Bethany Gere, a senior musical theatre and communication sciences and disorders double major from White Hall, Ark.; Hailey Weiner, a senior musical theatre major from Maumelle, Ark.; and Kenderick Scorza, a senior musical theatre major from North Little Rock, Ark.

Criss Cross is a drama by Karen Ankers and directed by Aaron Pinion, a senior theatre arts major from Tulsa, Okla. The play follows a mother worried about her teenage son. “Since his father died, he's been moody and quiet, even for a teenage boy, and she's found blood on the bed sheets in his room,” Pinion said. “She's learned a little about self-harm from the Internet, but she has to find the courage to face him.” Performing in the play are Lauren Hutcheson, a senior musical theatre major from Bossier City, La.; Tara Clem, a senior musical theatre major from Texarkana, Texas; and Jacob Hemsath, a sophomore musical theatre major from Wylie, Texas.

Nine is a drama by Jane Shepard and directed by Walter Dodd, a senior theatre arts major from Little Rock, Ark. “It's about two women who try to find hope in a hopeless situation by using games and words,” Dodd said. “They find what they need in themselves and their relationship with each other.” Performing in the play are Mattie Alexander, a sophomore theatre arts and mass communications double major from Midwest City, Okla.; and Nadalie Gill, a sophomore theatre arts major from Price, Texas.

A Spy with a View, directed by Jesse Bowron, a senior theatre arts major from Grandview, Texas, is a comedy by Robert Scott. The play features a couple on holiday, but the weather has trapped them in their hotel room. “The monotony is broken by the delivery of a mysterious briefcase with a recording that self-destructs,” said Bowron. Performing in the play are Tyler Lewis, a senior theatre arts major from El Dorado, Ark.; Mattie Bogoslavsky, a senior musical theatre and psychology double major from North Little Rock, Ark.; and Anna Joi Valdez, a sophomore musical theatre major from Terrell, Texas.

Friday night’s performances include:

The Last Nickel is a drama by Jane Shepard and directed by Dallas Sleeman, a senior theatre arts major from Kentwood, Mich. The plays is “theatrical, funny and touching,” Sleeman said. “It’s another long night for Jamie, with an obnoxious sister and a trio of cynical puppets to keep her awake. Tinged with fun and sisterly nostalgia, the merriment comes inevitably to focus on the cause of Jamie’s self-destruction and the loss that has brought her to the edge.” Performing in the play are Kenzie Osborn, a freshman musical theatre major from Rockwall, Texas; Olivia Witcher, a freshman musical theatre major from Little Rock, Ark.; Kayla Walker, a junior musical theatre major from North Little Rock, Ark.; and Scotty Scott, a freshman musical theatre major from Russellville Ark. Mackenzie Holtzclaw, a sophomore musical theatre major from North Little Rock, Ark., will serve as stage manager.

The Problem, directed by Natalie Williams, a senior theatre arts and music double major from Little Rock, Ark., is a comedy by A.R. Gurney that takes audiences through the strange behaviors of a married couple. “The wife reveals a shocking secret to the husband, which leads to a spiral of revelations that grow more and more ridiculous, leading to an absurd twist at the end,” Williams said. Performing in the play are Michael Peré, a sophomore musical theatre major from Roland, Ark., and Tori Bateman, a senior choral music education major from Bonnerdale, Ark.

This Isn’t Exactly How I Expected It is a drama written by Mary Steelsmith and directed by Hunter Brown, a senior musical theatre major from Little Rock, Ark. Recently deceased Olivia Robinson finds herself in an unusual waiting room where her eternal fate will be decided. “One after another, the others in the room trap Olivia in her web of self deceit, denying her self-proclaimed virtue,” Brown said. Performing in the play are Bret Sanders, a senior musical theatre major from Jonesboro, Ark.; Anna Darr, a sophomore musical theatre major from Alexander, Ark.; Aaden Jones, a junior musical theatre major from Little Rock, Ark.; Jordan Martinez, a freshman theatre arts and education double major from Forney, Texas; Will Stotts, a junior musical theatre major from Jonesboro, Ark.; Michaela Finley, a sophomore musical theatre major from Cedarville, Ark.; and Allison Austin, a junior musical theatre major from Mena, Ark.

Sorry, Wrong Number is a drama by Lucille Fletcher and directed by Caroline Cain, a senior theatre arts and mass communications double major from Niamey, Niger. The suspenseful play opens with a bedridden woman attempting to call her husband. “She seeks the help of the operator who connects her through to what she assumes is her husband's office phone,” Cain said. “Instead, she overhears a conversation where two men are plotting a murder.” Performing in the play are Ashley Eye, a sophomore biology major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Amy Lytle, a sophomore worship arts major from Plano, Texas; Andrew Crook, a sophomore mathematics major from Little Rock, Ark.; Casey Morris, a freshman biology and secondary education double major from Fayetteville, Ark.; Jess Elliff, a freshman musical theatre major from Maumelle, Ark.; Micah Brooks, freshman musical theatre major from Rockwall, Texas; and Stephanie Pollnow, a junior kinesiology major from Beebe, Ark.

Variations on the Death of Trotsky, directed by Vanja Bogetic, a senior musical theatre and Spanish double major from Budva, Montenegro, is a comedy/drama by David Ives. The play includes eight interpretations of Trotsky’s final moments and death using “satirical allusions to soap opera conventions,” Bogetic said. “Trotsky accepts that he is fortunate just to have lived for another day after the attack – that this seems to be symbolic of some sort of hope concerning human life,” Bogetic added. Performing in the play are Joseph Gabriel Hughes, a senior philosophy and Christian studies double major from Arkadelphia, Ark.; Lauren Terry, a sophomore musical theatre major from Evansville, Ind.; and Chris Baggett, a junior theatre arts major from Maumelle, Ark.

The Most Massive Woman Wins, directed by Kathleen Suit, is a comedy/drama by Madeleine George that “is challenging, brutal and hilarious as four women of various shapes and sizes sitting in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic explore their perceptions of body image,” Suit said. “The women reveal their experiences dealing with their weight issues through monologues, short scenes and even schoolyard rhymes. From painful childhood memories to frustrations with the opposite sex, these experiences both haunt and empower these women as they imagine their way to a new vision of themselves as beautiful and whole.” Performing in the play are Stacy Hawking, a senior musical theatre major from Sherwood, Ark.; Angela Morgan, a senior musical theatre major from Bryant, Ark.; Kacy Earnest, a junior mass communications major from El Dorado, Ark.; and Rachel Mack, freshman musical theatre major from Kirby, Ark.

For more information, contact Dr. Scott Holsclaw at [email protected] or (870) 245-5561.

 

By Ali Robinson