Theater students were able to showcase what they’ve learned after semesters of instruction from UW-Platteville’s theater department during the One Act Festival April 30, May 1 and May 2 at the Center for the Arts.

The One Act Festival: An Evening of Short Plays showcased student directors, who chose and casted short plays to perform. Student directors included: Jared Baker, Ben Barlow, Kady Beekman, Quincy Bufkin, Todd Chojnowski, Matthew Feldman, Bryan Kerian, Dan Schultz and Amanda Valiquette.

A variety of plays were performed, portraying many different raw human emotions and thoughts. The plays that were performed were: “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.”

“The cast did a great job showing the serious side of human emotion,” Linn Anita Harpnes Strand, an undeclared major and international student from Norway, said.

Other audience members said that the festival offered a wide range of performers and talents.
“I think it’s great to see such a wide array of majors taking part in the performing arts,” Kalee Crist, a sophomore Spanish and elementary education major, said.

Directors of the plays enjoyed the role and enjoyed seeing the different plays that were presented.
“It’s been interesting, yet incredible to watch the entire festival from a first-time director’s point of view,” Bryan Kerian, fine arts major and director of “Love and Peace, Mary Jo,” said. “I respect what my fellow directors and colleagues have done with these shows, how far they’ve come and where they can go, and am happy for their plays this weekend.”

The audience really responded to all of the plays and respected some of the very sensitive subjects portrayed, such as terminal illness and suicide. Overall, the One Act Play Festival focused on human emotions through theater, and showcased the knowledge and hard work put in by the student directors.
“Being a student director is a very challenging and demanding experience,” Kerian said. “But it is also a very rewarding one.”