Ouachita’s Ten-Minute Play Festival to open March 9
March 05, 2019
- Mercedes MataOuachita Baptist University’s chapter of Alpha Psi Omega national theatre honor society
will present its annual All Night Theatre: Ten-Minute Play Festival in Verser Theatre
Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. The festival includes plays written, directed and
performed by students. It is free and open to the public.
The Ten-Minute Play Festival is often referred to as “All Night Theatre” by Ouachita
students because of the turn-around time in which the shows are produced. Auditions
take place Thursday evening, and casts are announced the following day. Directors,
actors and creative team members then have 24 hours to develop each show, often working
through the night to learn lines, block and rehearse. Students of all majors and experience
levels are encouraged to participate.
The festival “is a chance for creativity in all areas of theatre – for students who
are in theatre and those that aren’t,” said Eric Phillips, Ouachita professor of theatre
arts. Phillips said the student-led nature of the event increases audience attendance
and encourages student leadership.
The tradition began roughly 10 years ago when Ouachita welcomed Jon Jory, a theatre
director from Louisville, Ky., to campus. Jory spoke with students about the creative
freedom and benefits of a 10-Minute Play Festival. The students took the idea and
began the annual festival.
The event is directed behind the scenes by “the triumvirate,” a select student group
of Alpha Psi Omega members, which recruits actors, directors and designers. The 2019
triumvirate includes Dylan Blackwood, a junior musical theatre major from Walnut Ridge,
Ark.; Michaela Finley, a senior musical theatre major from Alma, Ark.; and Molly Kennedy,
a sophomore musical theatre major from Melissa, Texas.
“The fact that is put on strictly by students makes the Ten-Minute Play Festival different from
other productions in the season; and we know what students want to see,” said Michaela
Finley, a senior musical theatre major from Alma, Ark.
The annual festival will be held on Saturday, March 9, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Verser
Theatre. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ouachita’s
Box Office at boxoffice@obu.edu or call (870) 245-5555 from 1-5 p.m. on weekdays.
By Mercedes Mata
March 5, 2019
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