The Festival of New Plays drew nearly 200 people over the weekend showcasing original works by students along with staged plays from guest professionals.
The event began Thursday, Feb. 19, and wrapped up Sunday afternoon at the Fishback Studio at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.
Katrina Weber, the marketing and box office manager from the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center, said that 190 theatre tickets were sold for the event. Each ticket purchased allowed audience members to attend performances throughout the weekend.
“We don’t have concrete numbers on how many people attended every night of the show, because of the nature of the ticketing for this event,” Weber said. “I would guess we were around three-fourths full house each night.”
As for the students’ works, called the One Day Plays, participating students had 24 hours to complete a play.
Three students were selected to write original scripts within six hours with help from the guest professional playwrights.
Brooklyn Mauch, a senior advertising major and selected playwright, wrote “I Fell,” which was centered around an ER waiting room with ‘a bunch of different funny injuries and hijinks.’
“It went well,” Mauch said. “It was amazing watching my play in real time.”
Willem Lim, a sophomore journalism major and another selected playwright, made “Saltine Crackers,” which was about a vice president who is abusing his power in a bunker.
“It was wacky,” Lim said. “My overall inspiration was just like, ‘what’s going on?’”
Lim said he took inspiration from a video game called “Fallout” and from the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
Both Mauch and Lim were first-time playwrights, and both enjoyed their experiences.
“It was definitely fun, and if I have time, I’ll try (it) again,” Mauch said.
Although it was nerve-wracking for Lim to write his play within a short time frame, he said he would sign up for a playwriting role again after a conversation with his professional playwright mentor, Aly Kantor.
“We were talking, and I said, ‘I don’t know if I can ever do this again, I just feel so anxious right now,’” Lim said. “It is very scary and very vulnerable, but she was telling me that I’ll end up getting addicted to it.”
And sure enough, after Lim saw his opening monologue being performed by a friend, he felt a feeling he hadn’t before.
“It was so special to see what I was working on being alive,” Lim said.
