By Anastassiya Khvan
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Theatre will present a Festival of One-Act Plays on Dec. 1, 2, and 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Bridges/Larson Theatre of the Snow Fine Arts Center.
The Festival of One-Act Plays, free and open to the public, has become one of the most popular annual events in the UCA Theatre Program. The festival will present plays directed and produced by UCA Theatre students enrolled in the directing class. More than 50 cast and crew members will participate in the event. This festival provides an opportunity both for the students involved in the directing or acting processes and for the public who can receive an interesting experience.
Dr. Kevin Browne, associate professor of theatre, said that the Festival of One-Act Plays provides the capstone experience for the students majoring in Theatre and taking the Directing class.
This year, the festival audience will be able to enjoy an evening of Terrence McNally’s one act-plays. McNally, who will be an artist in residence for the UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication, is one of theatre’s most important playwrights whose plays have won many awards, including the Tony Award for Best Play for Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime.
The festival program, as well as McNally’s residency, will include:
Tuesday, Dec. 1: Breast Man by Bill Bozzone and Joe DiPietro, directed by Cody Charles Douell; Day by Lanford Wilson, directed by Ashley Marie Jones; Trifles by Susan Glaspell, directed by Malachi Thornton; and Ghost Story by John Pielmeier, directed by Victoria Blackburn.
Wednesday, Dec. 2: Bringing It All Back Home by Terrence McNally, directed by Chelsey Herrold; Boticelli by Terrence McNally, directed by Jordyn Daniels; Noon by Terrence McNally, directed by Sarah Barrett; and Dusk by Terrence McNally, directed by Emily Ray. Terrence McNally will attend one-act plays and participate in a talkback after the performances.
Thursday, Dec. 3: Flowers for Algernon adapted by David Rogers, based on the book by Daniel Keys, directed by Karina Jo Martinez; Eisegesis by Nick Mecikalski, directed by Thomas E. Moran; and Can Can by Romulus Linney, directed by Kayla Williams.
Thursday, Dec. 3, 3 p.m.: Craft talk/Q&A with students in the Studio Center of Snow Fine Arts.
Thursday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.: Public lecture, A Writer’s Life in the Theatre in the College of Business Auditorium 107.
Friday, Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m.: Contemporary Opera and Social Justice, an Interview with Terrence McNally in Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and Visitor Center, 2120 W. Daisy L. Gaston Bates Drive, Little Rock.
Tickets are not required and seats are not reserved. Doors open at 7 p.m. each evening. Some of the plays are suggested for mature audiences only. More information is available online at www.uca.edu/theatre or by contacting Melissa Kordsmeier, UCA Theatre business manager, at mkordsmeier@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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