“I gave them a lot of freedom to direct” –  Mr. Patterson

This year started off strong with student-directed one acts. This annual event shifts from the typical theatre experience. The catch of this experience is that the whole production lies within the students’ vision.

I chatted with Mr. Patterson about how different this is compared to other plays. It starts in the playwriting class taught in the theatre. Here the students learn how to write a play and the effort that goes into it.  There is a big emphasis on organization and time management.

“They organize their rehearsals and own schedules” – Mr. Patterson

Within the class, they write scripts, and at the end the directors choose which one they want to use. Then they had to decide the costumes, props, and stage that needed to be used.

There were eight total plays with different directors. Kat Weber  Reagan Spickard, Bennett Barron ’23, Kiko Medrano IV ’24, Giovanni Bennett ’24, Bo Jouette ’23, Ryan Zito,  Ellie Mentgen. 

A key feature to notice is the feature of women directors from the Ursuline. This is a great example of the branch between our sister school and our school.

The plays themselves were fantastic. Students that attended described that they were surprised at the comedy and creativity of the student directors. They really enjoyed it and found it refreshing.

“It was creative for sure, and it kept you on your toes” – Pablo Lopez

I think this perfectly describes what student directing brings to the table. New talent used by visionary students leads to unique plays. Without such, we become a cyclical nature of theatre that lacks creativity like that found in the one acts.

Stay tuned to the Roundup for more Stage and Film news!