Gabriella Chikhani
Staff Writer
Members of the Theater 251 class opened the Jane Dibbell Cabaret Theatre doors Wednesday night and welcomed students, faculty, family and friends to watch their student directing projects.
There were six different scenes, each 15 minutes long, that were performed by students. The lights in the black box theater were dimmed as props such as a small black couch, a coat hanger and a chalk board were put into place to prepare between scenes.
The scenes were performed in this order: “The Tiny Closet” by William Inge, “Sure Thing” by David Ives, “Speed-the-Play” by David Ives, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” by Tom Stoppard, “I Dream Before I Take the Stand” by Arlene Hutton, “Across the Universe” by Robert Scott and “The Universal Language” by David Ives.
Freshman theater and communications double major, Daniel Jerz, performed in “Sure Thing” as Bill and “I Dream Before I Take the Stand” as He.
“It was a very good experience and just a very collaborative work effort between me and the other actors,” said Jerz.
“I plan to direct in the future and this experience really gave me a point of reference to go off of.”
The projects touched on different subjects like rape culture, difficulty with coming out and how important timing is in life.
The scenes ranged from romantic comedies to suspense.
The audience laughed during scenes from “Sure Thing,” in which Bill repeatedly tries to strike up a conversation with a woman reading a book at a coffee shop.
They also came to a complete silence during a shocking scene from “I Dream Before I Take the Stand,” in which a male lawyer questions a woman who has been raped and tries to blame and shame her for what happened.
“It’s interesting to see how they put their own twist to the story and having it in this smaller theater makes it more intimate,” said freshman child development major Emily De Leon.
The student directing projects will continue to run at 7:30 p.m. until Saturday and will showcase the same six scenes Wednesday and Friday.
The scenes that will be presented Thursday and Saturday are as follows: “Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe, “The First Fireworks” by Alex Broun, “Looks Get in the Way” by D.M. Larson, “Memory of Summer” by William Inge, “Variations on the Death of Trotsky: by David Ives and “The Kissing Scene” by Carl Martin.
Gabriella Chikhani can be reached at gabriella.chikhani@laverne.edu.
