Lights, camera, action: Students will direct plays during the One Act Festival at 7:30 p.m. April 30 – May 2  at the Center For the Arts. The plays are the the culmination of the play direction class in the theater department.

The students experienced what it was like to cast a play, including scheduling and meetings. The One Act Plays are the students’ final project in the directing class, in which they picked each play they will be directing.

Quincy Bufkin, theater and civil engineering major, said that each student had to pick a play that was a maximum of 10 minutes.  Each student then had to cast the actors.

“The way I went about choosing my actors is looking at if they fit into the character that I created in my vision,” Bufkin said. “The actors I chose did a great job at portraying what I wanted.”

Many of the students in the directing class have participated in the One Act Plays before, but as actors. There are students in the directing class who have only acted in the plays and say it is a different experience participating behind the scenes.

“This is my first time actually directing one,” Matthew Feldman, senior theater major, said. “I wouldn’t mind directing one again, it’s a great experience.”

Caitlin Krist, senior theater major, participated in the directing class in the past and is currently working on the advertising aspect for the One Act Plays as an independent study. Krist, said that it is important for people to come to these plays to support all the hard work that each student has put into each play.

“By participating in the One Acts, or even just going and seeing the production, it gives the student directors the support they need,” Krist said. “Lots of work has been put into each play.”

The 10 plays will be performed over three days. Plays that will be performed are: “The Tarantino Variation,” “Naomi in the Living Room,” “Arabian Nights,” “Love and Peace,” “Mary Jo,” “slasreveR neveS,” “Flop Cop,” “Finger Food,” “Feeding the Moonfish” and “The Unwanted.” Tickets are available through the Center For the Arts box office for adults at $7, UW-Platteville Faculty for $6, people under 18 for $5, UW-P student with ID for $5 and for seniors citizens for $5. Call the University Box Office at 608-342-1298 for tickets.