VWHS one-act plays present challenges

Van Wert independent/VWHS Drama Club information

At Van Wert High School, drama students are putting finishing touches on their fourth year’s performance of “An Evening of One-Act Plays.”

The one-acts provide juniors and seniors with the opportunity to experience the technical side of theatre; the shows are directed and performed by students.

This year’s line-up consists of a comedy of love (or love gone wrong) called Imperfect Proposal, directed by senior Miranda Rickard; a comedy of dreams called The Actor’s Nightmare, directed by seniors Daniel Bashore and Danielle Slagle; and an out-of-this-world comedy called Twitch, directed by junior Robbie Trittschuh. Each student director has chosen his show, cast it, designed set, costumed his characters, and has now spent many hours working with actors to achieve the final vision.

Bashore and Slagle are directing for the second year. For Slagle, this is preparation for her career. “I love directing,” she said. “It’s definitely something I want to go into now.”

Slagle comments that, while she has already learned the basics of directing and interacting with her cast from last year’s experience, this year brought its own challenge because of their play. Bashore and Slagle have chosen a play that is as much a fine-arts cultural experience as it is a comedy. The play has required them to research bygone playwrights like Samuel Beckett and Noel Coward in order to properly play the allusions.

Miranda Rickard has a cast of 15 students and many new faces. For her, this brings both the challenges and rewards of her first time directing: “Since I have such a big cast, it’s hard to keep a strong focus during rehearsal,” she noted. “Directing is different for me from my previous acting experience because I have to see theatre from entirely different aspects than I did before, like blocking and working with lines for everyone, not just the character I’m portraying.”

Rickard has learned to help keep focus by setting objectives for each rehearsal, encouraging cast members to stay attentive, and recognizing when she’s done working with some people during that rehearsal so she can respect their time and send them home.

All directors agree that the experience has its rewards. For Robbie Trittschuh: “It’s rewarding to see my vision come about.  When acting, someone told me what to do, but now that I’m directing, I make the decisions.  It’s my vision.”

“We’ve really come a long way,” Rickard explains. “It’s been neat to see so many new faces to the department and to see how hard everyone has worked to pull together a great show. We’ve accomplished a lot.”

So how important is the audience? Without skipping a beat, Bashore asserts: “The audience is everything! Without the audience, there is no show!”

It’s true. The audience’s presence is the final ingredient to energize these students’ performances. VWHS drama students hope local residents will come complete their theatrical experience on Thursday and Friday, November 17-18, at 7 p.m. at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are available at the door and cost $5 for students at $7 for adults (cash and check only). Ticket proceeds cover expenses that allow VWHS to continue to produce shows in its ever-expanding drama department.