17 short plays in search of an audience
May 30, 2008
The Greeley Theatre Company’s SpringFest 2008 runs June 9 through 12. In those four evenings student playwrights, directors and actors stage 17 short plays, several each night, beginning at 7:00 p.m. A complete program giving dates and times will be printed in next week’s edition of NewCastleNOW.org.
This week, five student directors talk about their works.
“Science Erosion” by Ross Carstens, Thursday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m.
“SteinowitzSpace” by Zach Ehrlich , Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m.
“All Along the Grocery Aisle” by Rebecca Hamburg, Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m.
An excerpt from “Company,” book by George Furth, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Evan Ross., Thursday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m.
“A Helping Hand” by Ezra Schrage, Thursday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Ross Carstens
“Science Erosion” by Ross Carstens
1. Where did you come up with the creative idea for your piece?
My original idea was born from a desire to work with multimedia presentations encompassing theatrical, visual and audio aspects to a more philosophical, message-driven performance art display. I wanted my piece to be relevant. I decided to create an ethics-based political play based on the Bush Administration’s promotion of policies of torture and current American xenophobia. I tried to focus on the socio-political and ethical ramifications of American actions and attitudes, governmental and societal, towards other cultures.
I used a hypothetical situation to paint a picture of a potential situation in which a xenophobe brainwashed by society comes into contact with the victim of ethically unproductive policies, exploring both the potential for productive acceptance and uninformed disaster inherent in the current world situation on both sides of a conflict.
The piece is purposefully ambiguous in order to demonstrate that it is not merely our own nation in this situation but that nearly every group of people in the world can improve its ability to communicate with and garner respect from others, thus promoting increased cooperation and general success.
2.Where do you think your piece succeeds, and where do you see challenges for yourself as a playwright or director?
The acting has been very successful; both my actors are intrigued by the piece and are very much excited to be involved. The major challenges lie in the music and the visual effects, which are various projections. It is immensely complicated to coordinate the two with each other and then with the actual text presented on stage and even more complicated to coordinate the subject matter of the whole piece so as to maintain both ambiguity and specificity simultaneously without revealing the controlling idea in its entirety.
3 What is the greatest challenge you have found so far (writing, working with actors, tech, etc)?
The greatest challenge by far has been to coordinate the music, mostly due to the complexity of rhythms and the organization of the musical reactions to the dialogue occurring on stage. The music specifically reacts to the dialogue; the musicians serve as representatives of the world population, experiencing the effects of the situation.
4 Why were you interested in writing/directing a piece for SpringFest? What aspects of SpringFest lend itself to this type of work?
My initial interest stemmed from my interest in musical composition and modern art. The synthesis of those two forms of expression naturally led to the theatre, more specifically, theatre seen in a more performance-art sense of the word. I wanted to explore human expression above all, because progress can only occur through the expression of new ideas present through art, in whatever form it may be. I tried also to include an exploration of contemporary socio-political ethics, incorporating ideas of expression into the overall structure of the piece by using the violin as an abstract narrator to project sound into the observer so as to evoke emotions from the observer and force that observer to consider the subject matter in both a more intellectual and more deeply emotional manner. The background score and the projections function in the same way, responding to specific cues from the text to evoke increased participation.
5. What other pieces, besides your own, are you looking forward to? Why?
I am looking forward to Adam Levine’s “Eggcicles” because, as they say, nuns with dementia tend to turn up in the strangest places.
6. In addition to writing/directing, are you performing any other roles, performance or technical, in SpringFest?
I am acting as the father, Dylan, in Kathryn Krull’s play “Bisney Boy.”
Zach Ehrlich
“SteinowitzSpace” by Zach Ehrlich
1. Where did you come up with the creative idea for your piece?
My show centers around the plight of a young man fed up with social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace, and his efforts and adventures in creating his own social networking website. I wrote the show as a response to a mounting and unfortunate suspicion: that websites like Facebook have seeped into the life of the average high school student, replacing much social contact.
2. Where do you think your piece succeeds, and where do you see challenges for yourself as a playwright or director?
I am generally proud of my piece, and think it is efficient in its use of characters, conflicts and the audience’s time. In the future, however, I would make a note to keep the number of actual scene changes to a minimum, so as not to disrupt the action as much. The show has eight scenes and, thus, seven scene changes. This is a bit of a hassle.
3. What is the greatest challenge you have found so far (writing, working with actors, tech, etc)?
While my show has progressed remarkably smoothly, an unforeseen accident not associated with the play has left one of my actors in crutches, which did cause some pacing issues. Even this, however, was generally minor.
4. Why were you interested in writing/directing a piece for SpringFest? What aspects of SpringFest lent itself to this type of work?
I wanted to contribute something to SpringFest that would be remembered and appreciated, and hopefully be both socially relevant and funny. I think that SpringFest is an excellent venue for young playwrights, and I am quite happy to be participating.
5. What other pieces, besides your own, are you looking forward to? Why?
I am looking forward to the pieces of my friends in the playwriting and directing class, simply because I am interested in their creative output.
6. In addition to writing/directing, are you performing any other roles, performance or technical, in SpringFest?
Yes. I am acting in Adam Levine’s show, “Eggcicles,” in which I will be playing the role of Mr. Fetchit.
Rebecca Hamburg
“All Along the Grocery Aisle” by Rebecca Hamburg
1. Where did you come up with the creative idea for your piece?
I intentionally wanted to write my play about something completely different. I had been putting off writing it for a very long time because I didn’t feel the inspiration to write what I thought would be a really brilliant play. So, typically, I procrastinated, and decided to go to the grocery store with my mom. I’ve always found grocery stores interesting—just the kind of people you see and all the food; I know that sounds a little odd. Anyway, when I came home I sat down and I just started typing. After I had my first rather random line, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about: a grocery store.
2. Where do you think your piece succeeds, and where do you see challenges for yourself as a playwright or director?
I think my piece is definitely funny, I have always had a talent for making people laugh. I think that my play does lack a sense of depth, however. there really isn’t much of a true, heartwarming lesson or story between the lines. it’s just a short, cute and light little play.
3. What is the greatest challenge you have found so far (writing, working with actors, tech, etc)?
I have a huge cast this year, so in the beginning I thought that getting them all together for a rehearsal would be the hardest part. But as it’s turned out, that has been extremely easy. I think the hardest part for me has been organizing the tech. Last year, my first Springfest year, one of my techies was already in stagecraft, extremely experienced and knew exactly what to do. This year I have good techies but I have to kind of direct them on what to do a bit more, and sometimes directing the actors as well as the techies can be a bit much.
4. Why were you interested in writing/directing a piece for SpringFest? What aspects of SpringFest lend itself to this type of work?
I was interested in taking this class because creative writing has always been a strength of mine, It’s always been a bit hard because I often don’t do as well in English classes as I’d like (English supposedly being my best subject), since a lot of the writing has just been analyzing text. I enjoy playing with words more, so I thought that playwriting and directing would be a suitable outlet for me. Also, I have always admired and respected the actors at school; they have a dedication that is not present in most students, so I was really eager to begin working with them.
5. What other pieces, besides your own, are you looking forward to? Why?
I am really looking forward to A.J. Perlin’s play. All I have heard is rumors about it being about four minutes long, no actual script and turtle costumes. Should be interesting.
6. In addition to writing/directing, are you performing any other roles, performance or technical, in SpringFest?
Ha ha, no. Acting has never been a strength of mine and I get stressed out rather easily. Directing is enough pressure for me, but well worth it!
Evan Ross
An excerpt from “Company,” book by George Furth, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Evan Ross.
1. Where did you come up with the creative idea for your piece?
I’m not writing a piece this year. Last year I did, and I plan to again next year, but this year I decided to try my hand at directing someone else’s writing. I’m doing a selection from Sondheim and Furth’s “Company.”
2. Where do you think your piece succeeds, and where do you see challenges for yourself as a playwright or director?
The success is in the writing of it. Sondheim’s masterful crafting of lyrics and music along with Furth’s hysterical dialogue make for a very fun show to direct. It’s a difficult piece, material-wise, but my actors are wonderfully talented and very hard-working.
3. What is the greatest challenge you have found so far (writing, working with actors, tech, etc?)
The greatest challenge has actually been finding time to rehearse. Everyone, including me, has been so darn busy. But we’ve made enough time, and good use of the time we’ve had.
4. Why were you interested in writing/directing a piece for SpringFest? What aspects of SpringFest lend itself to this type of work?
I did the class last year because I was, and still am, very interested in playwriting. I took it again this year because I really loved the whole process last year, and wanted to try to do something a bit different.
5. What other pieces, besides your own, are you looking forward to? Why?
Before the process started, P.J. had me read the first draft of “The Trial of Mr. William Shakespeare as Accused by Marco Acelli, Judge Joseph Curtel Presiding,” which I was absolutely awestruck by. His writing is just brilliant. I’m also very excited to see how crowd favorites like “Eggsicles” and “A Terrapin for Tuesday” turn out. Also, whatever Ezra’s cooking up is surely brilliant, as always. But I’m sure everyone’s will be fantastic.
6. In addition to writing/directing, are you performing any other roles, performance or technical, in SpringFest?
Yes, I play the part of Curtel in P.J.‘s show, which is a very fun part.
Ezra Schrage
“A Helping Hand” by Ezra Schrage
1. Where did you come up with the creative idea for your piece?
When I was brainstorming concepts and ideas, I was wracked with indecision. One day, I decided to clear my mind and went squirreling through the attic to find something interesting. Lo and behold, I came across the most peculiar rubber hand, the wrist covered in blood to indicate this object had been detached from its original owner. Although I had just found it, I felt an immediate sense of bonding with the hand and began thinking of great ideas and stories. I had also decided at this point that I wanted to include the moral of “some people are not to be trusted,” which lends itself well to a relationship story. I eventually settled upon my play, “A Helping Hand.”
The play takes place in a dumpy city apartment belonging to Carmen, who is awakened by her ex-boyfriend, Jason, at two in the morning. Jason has always relied on Carmen for support in times of need, but this time is different because Jason has a problem that can’t be solved just by talking. He brings with him a severed body part in a bag, to which Carmen’s first reaction is to call the police. Through his charm, Jason convinces her to keep the authorities away while he tells the odd story of how he acquired this limb that doesn’t belong to him. The tone of the piece is mostly funny, with some serious and emotionally charged parts to keep the audience on their toes.
2. Where do you think your piece succeeds, and where do you see challenges for yourself as a playwright or director?
I think the piece succeeds in creating a good portrait of a realistic set of characters. We see the sly Jason using his charms to win over the same girl over and over again, even though he can’t quite control his actions. On the other hand, we see Carmen who is so desperate for some stability and happiness that she stays with the same man, even when he refuses to become involved in a close relationship with her.
One challenge I experienced was in attempting to make the set work with the script. I enjoy using very cramped spaces to make sure the actors are right on top of each other. With this script though, I’ve discovered the advantages of allowing more room for interaction and how it can be useful for the actors. This may be my first play where I extend my space out and back to the advantage of both the actors and the audience.
3. What is the greatest challenge you have found so far (writing, working with actors, tech, etc)?
A challenge I knew from the start would be getting five people to agree on a meeting time. My first play had six people, which was an absolute nightmare for scheduling. The next one I wrote only had two characters, which made for very easy agreement on rehearsal time. With five, I’ve had some no shows and a few actors show up late. Overall, they’ve learned the importance of being on time and checking their schedules for conflicts so that everything works out. I remind them that they will look just as bad as I will if they mess up because of poor rehearsal attendance.
4. Why were you interested in writing/directing a piece for SpringFest? What aspects of SpringFest lend itself to this type of work?
I’ve been going to plays my entire life. Since I can remember, I’ve seen almost a play a month, both on and off Broadway, and even on the West End. Being exposed to so much, I was drawn to the almost god-like qualities the writer and director have. The ability to create a story from scratch and have people act it out, carrying out your every whim. I also enjoy the freedom that comes with writing a play. As a writer, your responsibility comes down to creating the setting and dialogue and having the actors flesh out those details with their presence and action. SpringFest is great for all of this because our teacher, Mr. Schraufnagel, is very encouraging and helps us edit the stories to become the best they can. The actors are also very talented and willing to put in the effort to make your vision come alive.
5. What other pieces, besides your own, are you looking forward to? Why?
I’m very much looking forward to A.J. Perlin’s show, “A Terrapin for Tuesday.” A.J. has a very creative mind and is experimenting with some odd theatre techniques I’m told, like potentially having some of the bits in the performance made up that night. Most everything that A.J. writes is funny and interesting to experience. I’ve purposefully kept myself from hearing details in order to enjoy the show more thoroughly. I can guarantee that anyone who watches his show will enjoy themselves.
6. In addition to writing/directing, are you performing any other roles, performance or technical, in SpringFest?
I am also acting in Ross Carsten’s show, “Erosion Science.” This piece will prove very interesting, as it also includes some of Ross’s musical compositions, so I look forward to seeing how his blending of music and theatre will work.
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