Student directing class to present 10-minute plays

Students from Beginning Directing, Theatre 227, will present eight 10-minute plays at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Black Box Theatre in Memorial Hall. Tickets are free, but seating is limited.

The eight student-directors are Jessica VanCoppenolle, 19, freshman of Loveland, Colo.; Travis Beguin, 20, sophomore of Rushville; Anna Avila, 20, sophomore of Loveland, Colo; Jayma Loghry, 19, freshman of Sidney; Jesse Manke, 19, freshman of Philip S.D.; Becci French, 20, sophomore of Alliance; Angela Heesacker, 21, senior of Hay Springs, and Sara Labor, 20, sophomore of Hot Springs S.D. The directing class is taught by Roger Mays, professor of visual and performing arts.

These students were responsible for all aspects of their plays, from selecting the plays and holding auditions to scheduling rehearsals and assembling costumes and props, French said. They also had to design the floor plans and logos, block out the action, and plan the sound and lighting cues. The students had several plays to choose from.

Heesacker said the experience of directing a play has helped her see theater from a different perspective. She had only acted before, but with this class project she was now telling the actors what to do.

“I learned how much time and effort directors have to put into plays,” she said.

Her play “That Midnight Rodeo” was written by Mary Price. It is about a husband and wife in professional rodeo who struggle between the decision to keep their baby or continue with their careers.

Manke directed the play “Tape,” written by Jose Rivera. The play is about the consequences of someone’s actions being recorded on tape and the afterlife.

He said the experience of directing a play was different than previous class projects. For class projects, he worked with other members of the class. For the 10-minute plays, he had to cast and work with students from outside the class.

Another difference was the amount of work the students had to put into the plays.

“We had to do these plays from scratch,” Manke said.

French directed the play “The Man Who Couldn’t Dance,” by Jason Katims, which is a story about former lovers who find each other again.

She said that previous class projects built up to this final project and prepared the students to direct their own plays. For the first half of the semester, the class was assigned short skits.

“We slowly learned the concept of directing, but we began the directing process for these plays in March, when we held auditions,” French said.