The theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega presented its annual One Act Play festival Feb. 21 through Feb. 23. The festival consisted of two one-act plays that were cast, directed and produced by Elon University students. Alpha Psi Omega showed nontraditional performances with “The Insanity of Mary Girard” by Lanie Roberson and Steve Martin’s “W.A.S.P.”
“The Insanity of Mary Girard” was directed by senior acting major Sean Liang. The play is based on the true story of a woman put in an insane asylum by her husband in the 1700s. It depicts Girard’s first night in the asylum, where she is visited by Furies, who help her visit her past and reveal her future.
Liang chose the play because of its versatility.
“It was a good small set to work with,” he said. “It gives a lot of freedom.”
Liang used that freedom to explore a variety of techniques that are atypical in conventional theater. When the house opened, the entire cast was already onstage, in costume and terrorized members of the audience as they took their seats. The play also featured the use of heavy fog, strobe lights and the Japanese art form butoh.
"It was completely different from anything I've ever done,” said freshman cast member Lauren Richards, who played a Fury and the Warder.
Richards also attributed the horror of the show to its morbid subject matter.
“It makes the audience more aware of what's going on in insane asylums,” she said. “I think that's scary in itself."
After an eerie first act, the audience was treated to a lighthearted comedy in the form of "W.A.S.P." The show’s title is an acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and it is a parody of the lives of stereotypical conservative families. Alpha Psi Omega chose to take the comedy a step further, and cast all of the white roles with African-American actors. According to assistant director Maggie Kittner, the decision was made early in the process.
“We figured why not add to the absurdity and turn a stereotypical traditional WASP into something else, something absurd in the context of the play,” she said.
The result was an ironic performance that kept audience members laughing. The absurdity of the show let the cast members have fun.
"The script is crazy," said freshman cast member Bronte Scoggins. "It has its really deep moments but it also has a lot of humor, comedy and humanity."
The One Act Play Festival is one of many events produced by Alpha Psi Omega this year. In early September, the organization produced the 24-hour play festival, where students wrote, cast, directed and performed original shows in 24 hours. Liang is the president of Alpha Psi Omega and said he hopes for the organization to be a conduit between the Elon community and the Department of Performing Arts.
"Alpha Psi Omega is there to help students create theater that they want,” Liang said.
Each year the organization selects two one-act shows and a full-length show from the scripts suggested by students. Liang insisted Alpha Psi Omega is not exclusively for those involved in performing arts and encourages students of all majors to get involved. Alpha Psi Omega’s next performance will be its full-length play, “The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged” by The Reduced Shakespeare Company.