California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

    Challenge accepted: 10 minute plays

    Snippets of real life: Fully fun freshmen students Kathrine Reaves and Kevin Repich explore conflict and comedy in the theatre arts departmentโ€™s production of 10 Minute plays entitled TasteFULLY DysFUNctional March 8, 9 and 10 in the Black Box Theater. Photo by Haakon Asker, Staff Photographer
    Snippets of real life: Fully fun freshmen students Kathrine Reaves and Kevin Repich explore conflict and comedy in the theatre arts departmentโ€™s production of 10 Minute plays entitled TasteFULLY DysFUNctional March 8, 9 and 10 in the Black Box Theater.
    Photo by Haakon Asker, Staff Photographer

    There are 600 seconds in just 10 minutes.

    One could burn over 300 calories in a 10-minute CrossFit workout. One could run a mile and a half in 10 minutes. One could admire a sunset or sunrise or even play one hole of golf in 10 minutes.

    Better yet, on March 8, 9 and 10, you can watch the Ten-Minute Play Festival presented by California Lutheran Universityโ€™s theatre arts capstone class.

    All shows will be in the Blackbox Theater. On March 8 and 10, the festival will start at 8 p.m. and March 9 at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

    This will be the sixth time the theatre arts department has presented the Ten-Minute Play Festival. The theme of the plays is โ€˜unconditional relationships,โ€™ which is reflected in the chosen five comedies and three dramas.

    โ€œThis year weโ€™re calling our theme โ€˜TasteFULLY DysFUNctionalโ€™ and itโ€™s a series of shows that deal with all kinds of relationships, especially the ones that are unconventional, fun and sometimes a little dysfunctional,โ€ said senior executive committee member Ashton Williams.

    In order to come to the decision of the theme, the class first had to read through hundreds of plays.

    โ€œThe capstone class forms a theatre company comprised of all members of the class. Each student is responsible for reading 30 different plays and selecting their individual top ten choices,โ€ said Michael Arndt, who teaches the capstone class. โ€œAfter presenting those choices to each other, 20 plays are voted on. Each member then reads all 20 and a final number is chosen. The plays are then decided on by secret ballot where as a class, we selected the eight plays,โ€ Arndt said.

    The theatre arts department held open auditions for the CLU student body on Feb. 3. According to Arndt, over 40 actors auditioned from the campus community.

    โ€œWe had one actor come and audition who was not a theatre arts major and he just fit the role in one of our plays so well that I and several others looked at the directors of the play and said, โ€˜We donโ€™t care who else you cast, but he has to be in this play,โ€™โ€ Williams said. โ€œOnce he auditioned we couldnโ€™t see anyone else in the role but him.โ€

    Junior and master electrician Will Cowles-Meyer will perform in the play โ€œLoyalties.โ€ Cowles-Meyer works with the 16 directors to create the lights for each play to set the time of day and create the mood.

    โ€œIn one of the productions we have created a color wash to reinforce the death scene,โ€ Cowles-Meyer said. โ€œItโ€™s more about the story than the set. The serious pieces that we are putting on are more thought-provoking and we use the light to reinforce the mood of the scenes.โ€

    Not only does the capstone class create certain moods within the plays, but there is a great deal of consideration given to the order that they are performed.

    โ€œWe open the festival with a comedy to engage the audience and before the break for intermission, we present one of the more serious plays to get the audience talking during intermission,โ€ Williams said. โ€œWhen we return from intermission, we present another thought-provoking play to continue the conversation amongst the audience and then we end the festival with a light-hearted comedy.โ€

    โ€œI am extremely proud of the capstone students who have taken on every aspect of theatre production to mount these plays including: directing, design, publicity, marketing, budgeting, securing royalties and stage management,โ€ Arndt said. โ€œThe plays move quickly and are quite varied providing comic and dramatic moments, which should thoroughly entertain audiences.โ€

    The shows the capstone class have chosen range from television host Jerry Springer to serial killers and almost everything in between.

    โ€œโ€˜Loyaltiesโ€™ has a lot to say. It gives an interesting narrative on opposite stances of war and brings up a topic that really needs to be thought about,โ€ Cowles-Meyer said. โ€œIโ€™m very excited to see the audienceโ€™s reaction to the ending, itโ€™s very shocking. There is going to be a lot of discussion while walking home to their dorms.โ€

     

    Drew Thomas
    Staff Writer
    Published March 5, 2014