By Jamil Oakford/se news editor
SE theater program’s Black Box Studio is gearing up to host to a series of 10-minute, student-written plays.
After notifying the students who entered the playwriting competition by Oct. 20, the plays were cast by Nov. 3 and have started rehearsals.
The actors are buzzing with excitement from the limited amount of time, the intimacy of the space and the challenge of the actors handling the content of some of the plays.
“We’ve had this week, and we’ll have possibly another two weeks to fully explore our characters,” actor Brenna Booker said.
Booker and fellow actress Erika Tucker are starring as Taylor and Jen in Chris Castro’s Goodbyes.
“It’s about best friends having to say goodbye,” Castro said.
The two actresses are definitely having fun with their roles and declared their favorite line together.
“What about the pigeons?” they said in unison.
Student playwright Catherine Woodworth is also excited to see her play Quick Meet come to life.
“It’s playing off of stereotypes,” Woodworth said. “A strong-willed girl coming from a strong-willed family and she’s being forced to do something she doesn’t want to do.”
She’s hoping people walk away with a sense of hope from this work.
Actor Nick Briscoe, who stars as Ben in Quick Meet and as drug-addicted Chris in Lust for Life, explained what he hopes he can bring across in his performances.
“With Ben, I hope that people think I was funny,” he said. “With Chris, I hope they think I’m impactful and likeable.”
Lust for Life is another play, written by Braden Zeissig.
“It’s about two best friends, Nate and Chris, based in the late 1970s,” he said. “It’s centered on Chris’ heroin addiction.”
Zeissig was inspired by his own experience with friends who are addicted to dugs.
“I’m sort of the middle ground between Chris and Nate,” actress Corina Sosa said about her character Melissa.
She thinks people will take away that not everything is as it seems and that they shouldn’t judge people for their mistakes.
These 10-minute plays will run Nov. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. with a 1:30 p.m. matinee Nov. 21. All performances will run in the Black Box Studio (ESEE 1316).
Tickets are $6 for general public, $3 for non-TCC students and seniors and free for TCC students, faculty and staff. For reservations, call the box office at 817-515-3599.
