Student actors set the stage ablaze, bringing to life the works of four fledgling playwrights this past weekend as part of Theatre Fairfield’s “New Works Festival”.
“The talent level here is far above the norm for undergraduate writers and they have feel and a ear for dialogue and theatre,” said Kent Brown. “There’s a real geniuses in the voice of the writer, there’s a real compassion for their characters…”
After 10 rehearsals and weeks of preparation, the four one-act plays transformed the stage of the PepsiCo theatre into a world of senile grandparents, conflicted musicians, embittered widows, and struggling pumpkin farmers.
In previous years, the student written plays were fully produced, directed by students, designed by students and acted by students. And while not fully produced, the four selected playwrights were still pleased to see their creations come to life and be able to gauge the reactions of the audience.
“The audience is definitely key. Just looking at their facial expressions and reactions, absorbing what they got out of it, what flows and what doesn’t,” said Tina Minerva, ’05.
In her play, “Surrender,” Minerva told the story of an embittered old woman, Marjie (Kristen Wilkens) and her disjointed relationships with her daughter (Rachel Pederson) and son-in-law (Wes Wilson), following the death of her husband.
“I think that instead of just doing plays from well known people, it’s good to give plays from unknown people a chance too, so that it can get them started,” said Katie Molveni, ’05.
In it’s first attempt at a staged-reading, the festival brought in two sold-out shows on Friday and Saturday night, attracting students and theatergoers young and old, to watch Fairfield University’s emerging theatrical talent.
Said Dede Tabak, ’05, “I was impressed by the caliber of writing style coming from people that I know and students that attend Fairfield. I thought the work that the actors had done in such a short amount of time was pretty impressive.”
In his dramatic work, “The Audition,” playwright John Paul Desena, ’03, describes the Oedipal love-hate relationship between a conflicted young pianist (Michael Tellerico), and his controlling mother, (Colleen McShea).
“I didn’t start as a writer, writing was just something I found out I could do, ” stated DeSana.
In Bob McGee’s, “A Cow in the Muck,” a mentally challenged father (Wilson) and his two sons, clash over the fate of a cow, which lies drowning to death in the “muck” of their farm’s pond. The play originally evolved from a poem he wrote based on his experiences growing up on a farm in the northeast, said McGee, ’04.
In “37 Gallons of Milk,” Cait Davis, ’05, depicts the survival of a teenage girl, Kai, on vacation with her grandparents in the Adirondacks. Struggling to overcome the absence of television and malls, Kai (Kristen Wilkens), must also come to grips with a grandmother who lives in the constant fear that she will run out of milk.
“It’s really bizarre to see them as my grandparents or the waiter or the neighbor. It’s really kind of disturbing but so cool at the same time because it’s my work and their doing it,” said Davis.
Unlike past festivals, the plays this year were selected by Brown himself, who also guided the players and playwrights, offering advice.
“We wanted one acts,” said Brown, “because we wanted to represent as many writers as possible.”
Leave a Reply