Elon University is continuing to provide hands-on experience for its students.
Alpha Psi Omega, the theater arts honor society, put on its annual One-Act Play Festival last weekend in the Black Box Theatre. Entirely student-run, the festival showcased two plays: Arthur Miller’s “Elegy for a Lady” and “Snapshot Memories," a play written by junior Logan Sutton.
“Alpha Psi Omega has been hosting this festival for at least five or six years,” said senior Sarah Clancy, president of the society. “The idea to do one-act plays sprung up because there are so many wonderful shorter shows that do not get stage time due to their length.”
Putting this kind of project together was no easy feat. Senior Kristina Loeffke said pieces were submitted to be in the show. Then, directors were asked which pieces they would like. From there, students needed to cast the shows, block them and rehearse.
Loeffke, who directed Arthur Miller’s lesser-known play, said she reveled in the opportunity to direct this piece.
“(The play) is very meaty, despite being 13 pages,” Loeffke said. “It has a lot of ups and downs. It brings the characters on emotional journeys.”
Senior Stephanie Scribner, the festival’s other student director, showed an equal amount of enthusiasm for her piece.
“I am especially humbled to have been able to direct ‘Snapshot Memories’ because it is a one-act written by one of my classmates who also happens to be one of my closest friends,” Scribner said.
Both directors shared similar sentiments on the challenges they faced during the production of this event. Two plays with one practice space required cooperation and support between the two pieces and their participants. In a small-scale production with a limited budget, students had to be resourceful, using props and set pieces from a storage unit in Gibsonville. The majority of the work was done during Winter Term, extending into the first weeks of spring semester.
Despite these trials, students said they felt this project, independent of faculty influence, was an important part of their experiential learning.
“It is empowering to do this on your own,” Loeffke said.
Scribner had a similar feeling about the independence she has gained during the course of production.
“This is important because, as artists, self-produced work is going to be most of our focus after we graduate,” she said. “As a senior getting ready to move on to life post-Elon, having the opportunity to do something like this was wonderful.”