Student directors open up about One-Act Festival
Winthrop theater students showcased their talents in directing, staging and acting in the Fall 2024 One-Act Festival. The annual festival is a collaborative effort between the Directing II, Lighting Design and Stage Management courses. Students in each course worked together to produce nine plays – performed on Nov. 15-17.
First-time directors Courtney Clark and Aidan Tibbitt got to experience the directing process through the One-Act Festival.
Clark directed “Playtime” by Kent R. Brown – an emotional play about a mother-daughter relationship.
Clark began acting as a child, but only recently started directing.
“As a theatre education major, I knew my future would involve a lot of directing with school productions, so I wanted to start learning the processes early to be better prepared for my career,” Clark said.
Adjusting to the directing process was a change of pace for Clark.
“It was a completely different creative process, reading the script for multiple character understandings, trying to visualize dynamic blocking, finding the hidden words between the written ones. It has opened new avenues of thinking for me in future creative endeavors,” Clark said. “When acting, I always read the script before rehearsals begin, but for directing, I think I read it at least seven times before even the casting process began. I immersed myself in the words to better understand the characters and story as a whole so that way I could better lead in the rehearsal process.”
The production would not be the same without the performances of the actors, Clark said.
“Riley Suthard and Chloe Storm, who acted in the piece, are two powerhouse actors,” Clark said. “They are so creative and have such amazing minds and really brought this piece to life. I am so grateful for my first directing experience to have been with them!”
Tibbitt directed “All Things Considered, Probably the Most Productive Meeting the EUSD PTA Ever Had” by A.J. Ditty – a Zoom meeting between PTA members during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tibbitt was initially drawn to acting, but he was drawn to directing.
“I’ve kinda always been interested in theatre, but for me what keeps me going with it is the urge to tell stories and to share experiences with others,” Tibbitt said.
Adapting Tibbitt’s play for the Winthrop stage needed to be creative – since the play is typically performed through Zoom.
“My concept relied on how it was staged in order to portray that these characters are on Zoom,” Tibbitt said. “I ended up landing on a ‘void of zoom’ concept, and had the actors exist in negative space, all separately lit to signify their ‘screen.’”
Other productions featured during the One-Act Festival include “Talkback” directed by Maddy Kouvolo, “Princeps Dormiens” directed by Kay Robinson, “Fifteen Minute Minimum” directed by Destiny Gore, “Katie and Frank” directed by Mason Hall, “Leaving Neverland” directed by Kristin Lowery, “Donny Osmond Turned Me Gay” directed by Francis Judge and “Trash, Keep” directed by Jess Caltagirone.
One of the highlights of the festival for the directors was seeing their work performed.
“Seeing the play during the festival gave me such a sense of pride,” Tibbitt said. “I just kept thinking to myself ‘Wow… I did that! I made that happen!’”
“The second the actors took the stage, I was overcome with emotion,” Clark said. “I was beyond proud of them and their work and just seeing all of it culminating on the stage was an indescribable emotion.”
The final outcome of the festival is a rewarding experience, Tibbitt said.
“The One-Act Festival is such a great thing that the Department of Theatre and Dance does,” Tibbitt said. “It allows for student directors, actors, designers, and stage managers to all come together and create with each other. It is so student-driven, and it’s really rewarding for not only yourself, but for your peers as well. Seeing the hard work you and your peers put into the festival pay off is just so rewarding, and genuinely emotional and moving.”
For more information about upcoming productions, visit https://www.winthrop.edu/cvpa/theatre/.
