Emerging Directors: Free Performances

​What’s better than seeing one free play? Seeing three free plays!

The York College Theatre Department will present three student-directed one act plays this week, November 18 and 19 at 8 p.m.

The performances will be held in Gurganus Hall (10th and Kiplinger). These performances are free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary.

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The one-acts are capstone projects of senior theatre students Eric Massey, Samatha Berry and Nolan Henningson. Each student-director has overseen every part of the production process including choosing the script, selecting the cast members and constructing the set. “This experience has given me a new appreciation for all the hard work that goes into the performance arts,” says Massey. “Being a director for this short time has pushed my leadership skills to a new level. It's also allowed me to see how much I've grown, and still need to grow.”

Massey, a senior theatre major from Robinson, Kans., is directing Soapy’s Follieswritten by Tina Schumacher. The comedy tells of a homeless man's antics to escape from the cold of winter. Through the course of one evening, he destroys public property, gets in a fight, is kicked out of two restaurants, causes multiple scenes and commits theft, all in the name of getting sent to jail to escape the streets of New York.

Berry, a senior theatre major from Falls City, Neb., is directing A Play with Words by Peter Bloedel. This comedy is about a struggling playwright who is swept away by three strangers and becomes lost in metaphors, puns and spoonerisms. “I am so proud of the cast that I have and I couldn't be happier,” says Berry. “Directing this show has reaffirmed that this is definitely the right career choice for me.”

The final show of the evening is Numbers written by Kieron Barry, directed by Nolan Henningson a senior theatre and vocal performance major from Oberlin, Kans. In this dark comedy, friendships and loyalties are put to the test as four girls attending a Catholic boarding school allow the spirit of the competition to come between them as they anticipate the announcement of who will be named Head Girl for the upcoming school year. “I chose this show because of its fast-paced, witty script,” Henningson says, “and because I think it provides an important message about bullying and exclusivity, and the way we treat each other and compete with each other, both as friends, and as Christians."
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Doors open at 7:30 p.m. each night.
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