Acting in the black
Derived from a Greek word meaning “a place for viewing or the seeing place,” theater has long been known as the locale for people to come and view life in all its comic beauty and raw splendor.
Starting tonight, the annual “An Evening of One-Acts” will give students a chance to see contemporary student-produced theater different than the material they’re likely to find in main stage productions.
“I think [the one-acts are] more fun for the students to come to because they’re not required to and they tend to understand the plays better,” Student Director Kynsie Kiggins said. “People seem to enjoy coming to them, I think because they relate more to them than to the main-stage productions.”
Produced, directed and performed by students at Utah State University, the one-acts have become a yearly tradition. This year, there are seven plays being performed over the next week, with two to three plays performed each night. The plays begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theatre in Room 224 of the Chase Fine Arts Center at USU. The event is free, but because of limited space, it’s best to arrive early.
“Get there early because it’s just a big scramble,” Kiggins said. “Last year, we had to turn people away.”
The first two nights, Jan. 20-21, have been dubbed “R-rated night” by the students because the plays include strong language and mature content. The two plays being performed are “Unwrap Your Candy,” by Doug Wright and directed by Luke Bybee and “Lone Star” by James McLures, directed by Mike Gardner.
“‘Lone Star’ is about a Vietnam vet who comes back to his home in Texas, actor and graduate student Chris Martin said. “It all takes place behind Angel’s Bar. It’s sort of about addiction and unfulfilled dreams. It’s a typical Vietnam War play and it’s a great show.”
Bybee’s production includes acts from “Unwrap Your Candy” with four different stories which involve, among other things, a woman who is unwound when her precocious baby begins to speak early while still inside the womb and a neurotic real-estate agent who shows a house filled with secrets to a potential buyer with a thirst for tabloid atrocities.
The other five plays will be performed Jan. 25-28 and include parodies, comedies, drama and a focus on alternative theater.
Kiggins is directing the one-act parody “For Whom the Southern Bell Tolls,” written by Christopher Durang. The show plays off Tennessee Williams’ classic “The Glass Menagerie.”
“‘The Glass Menagerie’ is kind of a theater staple. Every year, there’s somebody across the country performing it,” Kiggins said. “‘For Whom the Southern Bell Tolls’ is funny no matter what, but for those who have seen ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ it’s even funnier.”
Other plays include “Wendy Wasserstein’s Tender Offer,” which focuses on a distant father and his young daughter; “Universal Language,” which follows a man who invents a language and then tries to pass it off to people as the universal language for money; “Old Saybrook,” which is a critically acclaimed farce about infidelity and finally, a shortened version of a modern drama based on Franz Kafka’s story “Metamorphosis,” which tells the story of a traveling salesman who is transformed overnight into a giant insect.
“I like the one-acts because it’s material they won’t do on the main-stage productions. Also, I find the material of the one-acts more engaging,” Martin said.
Though many of the main stage productions include elaborate sets and a high degree of technical detail, black box theater tends to be more intimate with less spectacle, Martin said.
“We’ll turn the lights off, we’ll turn them on. There’s a few boxes on stage and you act. There’s nothing else to take you out of [the play],” Martin said. “If I could make a living doing black box theatre, I would. There’s more art to it. It’s like going to see an artist in his studio versus going to a gallery.”
The one-acts give many students the opportunity to act out leading roles – a chance they might not get with the main-stage productions.
“This is student work, which provides an avenue for fresh ideas, methods and creativity. Even though the large-stage productions, directed and produced by more seasoned professionals are great, I think student work has a certain edge that isn’t seen on a regular basis,” Bybee said.
-mattgo@cc.usu.edu