One-Act political artistry: Trio of young directors challenge society
By Patricia Jiayi Ho
The illegal relationship between a black man and a white woman in apartheid South Africa. An aging drag queen's efforts to stay sane in a world that regards homosexuality as mental illness. The victim of sexual assault finds herself probed and prodded all over again in the courtroom.
While the subjects of the three plays chosen for the Fall One-Act Festival vary, they share a common thread: social consciousness.
Theater majors Justus Vierra, Katie Thies and Cameron Fabrick scoured over hundreds of plays and settled independently on scripts that mingled politics with art. Their efforts will be showcased this weekend at Fess Parker Theater.
"Art should challenge society," says Vierra, who chose South African playwright Athol Fugard's "Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act" for his directorial effort. Set in 1966 when segregation of the races was the law in South Africa, the one-act play is told in two halves-the first part depicts events while the second takes audiences inside the characters' minds.
"It's very beautifully written and I like political theater. It intrigues me because I feel that while art can be used just for entertainment, it's more powerful when it's used to say something important," Vierra says. Codified segregation made interracial relationships illegal, a crime for which the two main characters are persecuted for.
"I Dream Before I Take the Stand" takes a similarly critical look at the system of laws that govern society. Fabrick was drawn to this script, by playwright Arlene Hutton, because of its gritty and realistic portrayal of the psychological effects of sexual assault. In the play, a woman is subjected to an eroticized cross-examination by an attorney. His invasive line of questioning places the blame of rape on her shoulders.
"The first time I read the play, I thought it was boring," Fabrick recalls. A second reading, however, had Fabrick hooked with the powerful ending.
The politics of sexuality is also a central topic in "The Madness of Lady Bright," a 1963 play by Lanford Wilson that Thies chose to direct. It tells the tragic tale of a 40-something drag queen lamenting her fading beauty and loneliness.
"This piece really spoke to me because of the time frame that this play takes place in because of the issues that it deals with," Thies says. "Homosexuality was still considered an illness by the American Psychology Association. This was the first time that a drag queen was shown on stage; it was pretty groundbreaking."
In addition to allowing students to explore creative interests, the One-Act Festival gives them a chance to gain practical experience.
"Outside of school, it's so difficult to find places to get to perform, to choreograph your own work or direct your own show," says Thies. "It's not going to be as easy to do all these different types of things and I've been really lucky to be able to."
Contact Patricia Jiayi Ho at (408) 554-4546 or pjho@scu.edu.