Students filled the Hartmann Performing Arts Center Feb. 23 and 24 to enjoy “Two Nights of One Acts,” presented by the Ministry of Experimental Theatre.
Senior advertising major Cassandra Cooper and senior theatre arts performance major Cedric Knuth directed two plays, where a storyline usually split in two by an intermission would instead begin and end within a single act.
“Last semester I was approached by the MET, and they asked me if I’d like to direct a play,” Cooper said. “I was excited to, so I submitted an application and hoped for the best.”
Knuth said he and Cooper were given guidelines from the MET, requiring the acts to include a meaningful message.
“[The acts] had to have a small cast, be no longer than 45 minutes [and] be relevant to college students,” Knuth said.
Knuth took a serious message and put humor in it with his selection “Ledge, Ledger and The Legend” by Paul Elliot.
“[The act is] about a young man named Pete who crawls out onto a ledge to end it all, when he is interrupted by a suicide counselor whose business is to help suicides ‘go out in style,’” Knuth said. “They’re interrupted by a rival counselor, and Pete must decide who to give his business of ‘going out in style’ to.”
According to Knuth, Pete does not end his life but instead realizes his future holds a purpose he still wants to explore.
Senior computer science major Jake Siegers, senior political science and theatre arts double major Derek Yeghiazarian and freshman theatre arts performance major Cassy Lillwitz performed the play.
Cooper chose a different theatrical message with her selection titled “Parallel Lines,” by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, which opened with two goddesses creating the universe. The show portrayed the struggles of a modern life: romantic relationships, death, gender ‘norms’ and religion.
The audience was laughing as the cast of senior English major Akilah Brown, sophomore industrial engineering major Rachel Bisch, freshman theatre arts performance major Rebekah Farr and freshman journalism major Noelle Mefford provided the crowd with humor and wit. “Parallel Lines” depicted the quest to find parity and love within life, according to Cooper.
“They did a phenomenal job shedding [some humor on a serious topic],” freshman communication major Aimee Tiberi said.
Cooper said it was a privilege to have been able to direct a play, but she cannot take all of the credit.
“I feel like the heart of the play was in my cast,” she said. “They motivated me, and they did such a great job. It would not have been the success that it was without them.”
