The New Works Drama Festival is held annually by the drama department to give students the opportunity to express their artistry in the form of playwriting and directing, while also highlighting talented student actors and crew at the University. This year’s event took place on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, encompassing a total of six original short plays unique in writing, cast and set design.
The brief plays, running roughly 15 minutes in length, explored themes of adulthood and humor, demonstrating impressive range with comedic moments in some plays and thought-provoking quarrels in others.
In creating and producing the plays, students are assisted by faculty of the drama department who sit down with students on their own time to help direct or provide feedback. Mary Hall, fourth-year Drama and African American Studies student, was uniquely both a writer and director at this year’s New Works Festival, expressing her appreciation for the supportive drama faculty that helped bring her work to the stage.
“The U.Va. drama community has really been one of the sole things that has uplifted me during my four years here,” Hall said. “Every single one of the professors is so incredibly loving and welcoming and open.”
The student writers vary — some take playwriting classes through the drama department to hone their craft, while others have experience in other writing disciplines with no affiliation to the department at all.
The directors of each play are responsible for reviewing self-taped monologues sent in by actors and selecting students to call back for specific roles. The callback process takes place over the course of one day and involves cold readings of the script for final casting.
The players opened the night with “Be A Doll,” written by fourth-year Commerce student Amelia Russell-Milstein and directed by second-year College student Kate Hovey. The audience was immediately thrust into a story that follows a woman struggling with her career and weighing her life choices. That is, until her childhood dolls grow life-sized in her small apartment and begin attempting to give life advice. The short play was a relatable take on adulthood and how pressures from the past can often materialize in strange but amusing ways.
From there, the festival continued with the two pieces “Going Bananas” and “When It Starts to Hold Your Hand” — both written by Hall and the latter also directed by her.
“Going Bananas,” directed by third-year College student Abby Milne, was an eccentric short play in a sitcom fashion, depicting roommates arguing over stolen bananas and a silly prank competition providing unmatched comedic timing and chemistry. “When It Starts to Hold Your Hand,” however, threw the audience into an unexpected story of a woman mourning the passing of a best friend.
Hall described the powerful story as one that displays how working through grief is important even if it seems the work is meaningless at times.
“For ‘When It Starts to Hold Your Hand,” just thinking about how grief is hard … But that doesn't mean there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hall said. “Sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is realizing that the person that you may have lost … would be proud of the progress that you were making even if it doesn't seem like progress to you.”
After a brief intermission, the festival introduced “The Trash,” written by fourth-year College student Claire Lichty and directed by second-year College student Nicholas Hayes, which was a satirical take on the complications of marriage. The fifth performance “In Due Time” explored religion in the context of loss and questioning, written by second-year College student Claudia Hunn and directed by drama lecturer Karim Chebli.
To end the night of performances with a comedic bang, “Party Crashers,” written by second-year College student Julia Shuttleworth and directed by assistant professor of playwriting Doug Grissom, left audience members gasping for air between laughs.
The short play began as a panicked group of women debated which one of them was responsible for the accidental murder of a man who fell from the home of a nearby party. Not one second of the showing went without a quick-witted joke that caused the theatre to erupt in laughter, with actors and well-portrayed roles that promised an even more comedic performance.
Third-year College student Abby Pasquanelli played the character Vera in “Party Crashers,” a stoner from the party who became involved with the murder without truly understanding what had happened. Pasquanelli discussed the process of acting in a show where the audience could expect the unexpected.
“It's always best when you don't plan what you're gonna do, because then I feel like I've done something different every single rehearsal, and so doing it just now it was a totally different version which is exciting,” Pasquanelli said.
The powerful performances between the actors across the board demonstrated how the New Works Festival offers an interactive space for creativity and feedback, while fostering a sense of close community for performers and crew.
Read More
“Novocaine” is oversaturated with bloody gimmicks
By Julia Laszakovits | YesterdayNate — played by Jack Quaid — is an average man with a not-so-average genetic condition that does not allow him to feel physical sensation.
Indie Short Film Festival showcased the art and artists of an oft-ignored medium
By Zachary Geller | 2 days agoIn only its second year, the Indie Short Film Festival has already become a truly singular program, distinguishing itself from other festivals by highlighting projects with genuine passion and a desire to tell stories that deserve to be told.
Mamadou Dia enriches filmmaking on grounds with his remarkable journey into the arts
By Benjamin Apostol | 2 days agoHis hands-on knowledge in film as a director, writer, cinematographer and co-founder of film and television production company “JoyeDidi,” has made him a reliable professor for eager film students. Dia has used his unique background in culture and in film to teach filmmaking in Media Studies alongside 3000-level filmmaking in French as part of the language department.
