Theatre Arts students direct and perform in Student-Directed Play Festival
Three McDaniel College Theatre Arts students direct 16 student actors in one-act plays during the College’s Student-Directed Play Festival.
Three McDaniel students direct one-act plays with 16 student actors in a variety of roles during the College’s Student-Directed Play Festival.
Zacharias Callis is one of three student directors for the Student-Directed Play Festival.
Zacharias Callis, a junior from Damascus, Md., directs a short play titled "Fire Exit," which opens in the aftermath of a fire, as the community faces what appears to be a prank gone terribly wrong. Callis said the one-act play, written by Stacie Lents, is unique "because the story is told completely through monologues."
"It is an important story that reminds us to never judge a book by its cover and to never make assumptions about what we think we know," Callis said. "I chose this show because I knew it would challenge me as a director and challenge the cast and production team."
Inspired by fairy tales, "After Happily," written by Dennis Bush and directed by Kendall Harnsberger of Baltimore, weaves together the stories of seven characters as they pursue what they believe will bring them perfect happiness. Harnsberger, a senior, said she chose to direct this show because "the situations and the struggles that characters go through are real."
Kendall Harnsberger is one of three student directors for the Student-Directed Play Festival.
"They can and have happened to other people in the world we live in," Harnsberger said. "I hope that some in the audience will realize that they aren't alone in their own singular story. I really enjoy the individual stories that each character tells and I hope to give them each a unique way of presenting that to the audience."
Directed by Patsy Zetkulic, a senior from Arlington, Va., "The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome," written by Michael Ross Albert, examines the relationships between a group of emerging artists when a painter tears the artwork off the walls of a struggling independent gallery.
"I'm very excited to be able to direct a play this semester so that I can take all that I've learned as a theatre arts major and use it to lead a production," said Zetkulic. "This play in particular interested me because of its focus on what art can be and how artists relate to the world, all while being one of the funniest plays I've ever read!"
Patsy Zetkulic is one of three student directors for the Student-Directed Play Festival.
McDaniel student actors are Allisa Baker of Fairfield, Pa.; Nicholle D'Anna of Essex, Md.; James Fagan and Alex Fondersmith of Ijamsville, Md.; Mara Flynn of Greensboro, N.C.; Matthew Foley of Fair Lawn, N.J.; Sophia Gilbart of Taneytown, Md.; Amanda Halcott, Becca MacDonald and Kevin Tyson of Baltimore; Imani Jackson of Arbutus, Md.; TJ Rigg of Frederick, Md.; Darrick Rowe of Parkville, Md.; Corey Van Huff of Neptune City, N.J.; Maya Williams of District Heights, Md.; and Matthew Zwick of Germantown, Md.
The Student-Directed Play Festival runs Wednesday, March 4–Saturday, March 7, 7:30 p.m., in WMC Alumni Hall. The performances are free and open to the public. Call 410-857-2448 for more information.
