This weekend Bradley’s theatre and performing arts department will host the Fall Forward Festival at the Hartmann Center Dec. 4 through 6. Previously known as New Faces, Fall Forward is a new event with three one-act plays lasting about 45 minutes each.
Fall Forward is a festival of student-directed plays featuring student actors. The plays are chosen by the student directors, and the actors are students who are either new to the department or have not participated in any main stage show during the semester.
The event’s main coordinators are professor Sarah Salazar and theatre arts chair, Scott Kanoff.
Senior theatre performing arts major Hannah Williams will direct one of the plays featured in the Fall Forward Festival.
“The actors in these plays are all people who have never acted on Bradley’s main stage before, primarily freshman theatre performance majors,” Williams said. “We also have a few upperclassmen who enjoy acting and wanted to get into it.”
Seniors performing arts and psychology double major Ali Pinkerton and performing arts major Kiayla Jackson will also be directing their own Fall Forward plays.
Following the Dec. 5 performance on will be Rockstar, a show performed by students in the Acting 2 (THE 215) class. Rockstar will feature students as famous pop and rock stars, and will showcase performances by Bradley alumnus Josiah Williams and senior television arts major Meghan Grott.
Sarah Heilbronner, a junior advertising and theatre arts double major, performed in last year’s Rockstar show and is the coach and emcee for this year’s show.
“Rockstar is essentially a night where each student chooses a performer that brings out a side of themselves that is not usually seen,” Heilbronner said. “It’s a night where everybody is willing to suspend their disbelief and go crazy, screaming because they’re seeing their favorite famous performers in front of them.”
“I’m super stoked to be a part of this show,” Williams said. “I really love directing and working with younger actors, both of which I’ve gotten to do here. This is my first time directing a comedy, and I chose a big, silly, goofball comedy that I really love.”
The three performances slated for this weekend are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The Rockstar show will take place at 10 p.m. following the Fall Forward performance on Dec. 5. For ticket information, students can contact Hartmann Center Box Office at (309) 677-2651.
