2014 marks the second year for Festival, Otterbein’s student-run theater showcase. Presented over the weekend of Feb.13, this year’s show is less than two weeks away. There are a variety of performances ready to be seen, including one-act plays, one full-length play, dance pieces and mime performances.
The full-length play was written by sophomore acting major Peter Moses. The play is titled “My Cousin Stanley is Dead”. A dark comedy, this play features a young man, Cullen, who falls in love with a woman named Jane. She is actually a psychotic serial killer, and she may or may not have killed Cullen’s cousin Stanley.
“My inspiration for writing this show came from a spur of the moment idea I had at 2 a.m.,” said Moses. “I decided I wanted to create something incredibly absurd and filled with dark humor, and I wrote this show without knowing how it was going to end.”
Moses started writing his play at the beginning of the semester this past fall, and after writing and re-writing at least 10 times, he produced the final product, which will be presented on Valentine’s Day at 4 p.m.
Second-year freshman BFA acting major, Steven Meeker Jr., is working Festival now for the second year. Meeker’s roles include director, mime choreographer and actor. This year he is involved with four different pieces. Along with being an actor and a director for two of the pieces that will be performed, Meeker is also involved with two mime pieces.
“I have been a mime for seven years,” Meeker said. “And to be able to express my feelings through an art form that I love is the most incredible feeling.”
“Very Strong Liking,” a mime piece that he created and choreographed, is about a young man who meets the girl of his dreams in a bar. He attempts to communicate with her through the music in the jukebox because he can’t speak.
The other mime performance, “Intimacy,” is a piece that also incorporates dance and mask. It was created and choreographed by Meeker and Lauren Kent, a fellow freshman and BFA musical theater major. The two have worked hard bringing to life the story of two different couples as they experience the highs and lows of love.
“Seeing one of my pieces in front of a live audience and allowing my soul to be expressed is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me,” Meeker said.
Each piece is completely written, designed, directed and acted by the students alone. In order to promote the work of each student, no staff is involved in these productions.
Maggie Savoie, junior theater BA major with concentrations in directing and choreography and a dance minor, was involved with the Festival last year and is currently part of the student committee that runs Festival.
The committee is in charge of choosing the pieces, directors, technicians and performers that are a part of Festival. As the production manager, Savoie is in charge of scheduling, reserving rehearsal spaces and communication between all members of the company and the faculty.
“It is also one of the only opportunities for students to create and be a part of new work, and it really allows you to understand what it might be like to work professionally in this industry,” Savoie said.
The writers and choreographers have been working on their pieces since November 2013, but rehearsals did not start until mid-January. Opening night is Feb. 13 and the shows will run until Feb. 15 in the Campus Center at 8 p.m.
