The members of Theatre Fairfield will take to the stage this weekend to present the annual New Works Festival, showcasing student written and directed plays as read from scripts.
I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a rehearsal of “Thirty-Someone.” The play was full of action despite the actors reading from the scripts.
“[The script in hand productions are] about the interpretation of the script from the actor to the audience through their voice and face rather than developing a full character in their body,” said Jill Amato ’05, director of “Life Haunting,” one of the plays.
According to Cait Davis, a director and writer of the production, “Thirty-Someone” is a comedic spoof on a dating game show where the contestants have to choose the love of their life out of an assortment of their past relationships. “Let It Be,” a dramatic piece, is about the struggle for a mother to accept her son’s fatal disease.
“Money Talks,” by Jared Mezzocchi, is a political satire about a war of the worlds’ currencies, which parallels the war in Iraq. The final piece of the evening is a dramatic work about living on with the memory of a lost loved one, entitled “Life Haunting.”
“The plays are well written and students can relate to them because every play is different,” said Ioanna Psaroudakis, one of the festival’s cast members.
The group is mentored by Dr. Marti LoMonaco, who began the festival 15 years ago. The festival was changed into the New Works Festival two years ago.
“‘New Works’ means the mounting of plays that have potential and are not full production in terms of design and costume,” said LoMonaco. She said that even though the plays are script-in-hand, they are fully rehearsed.
The plays were chosen in December, with a frantic casting and rehearsal process that followed over the next few weeks.
Lauren Satos ’06 said, “New Works Festival is such a wonderful opportunity for students to take the art of creating theatre to a whole new level. Rarely are college students given a chance to play such a vital role in a production.”
Wendy Scola ’07 said, ” The scripts we had to work with were amazing and I definitely can’t wait for them to come to life in front of an audience.”
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