April 14, 2010

Morningside College to present student-directed one-act plays

Students in a play direction class at Morningside College will present one-act plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22, and Saturday, April 24, in Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Ave.

These performances are free and open to the public.

“These shows are totally student run,” said Bette Skewis-Arnett, the professor of theatre who has been teaching the play direction class. “That is a huge undertaking. At larger schools with bigger theatre programs, totally student-run productions usually do not happen, so it’s very exciting to see our students take on these leadership roles.”

On Thursday, April 22, Morningside College will present “Here We Are” by Dorothy Parker, directed by Jake Sandvick, and “The Wall: A Pilgrimage” by Jan Stuckey, directed by Tyrel Drey.

On Saturday, April 24, the college will present “The Open Road” by Brad Slaight, directed by Brianna Carter; “The Problem” by A.R. Gurney, directed by Tom Chilton; “A Lottery Ticket” by Gerald P. Murphy, directed by Mac Deeds; “The Philadelphia” by David Ives, directed by Whitney Gries; and “The Babel of Circular Labyrinths” by Don Nigro, directed by Lyra Grace Christianson.

Cast members on Thursday, April 22, will be Trey K. Blackburn, Andrew Curry, Catelin Hoistad, Jordan Jacupke, Olivia Jensen, Madalyn Mardesen, Megan Suhr, and Justin Tjaden.

Cast members on Saturday, April 24, will be Alex Annan, Mandy Aschinger, Christopher Bevill, Brittney Foxhoven, Andrew Gerodias, Jenny Kinzey, Cora Kugler, Jay Logsdon, April Parkison, Matthew Ponder, Jarrod Reese, and Nathan Schwartz.

The crew for the one-act plays includes Katie Sokolowski as stage manager, Andrew Curry as backstage manager, Laura Krengel in the booth, and Megan Suhr and Phoebe Smith as house managers.