Winter One-Acts: Theater majors showcase their talent

By Colleen Snyder

This is the big weekend for four theater majors here at Santa Clara as they make their directing debuts in the Winter One-act Festival. Although they have had previous experience as actors as well as scene directors, this is the first time they have been solely responsible for directing a play. According to senior Tom Galvin, he "felt the difference in pressure."

Galvin, and his classmates, seniors, Sara Kate D'Angelo, Jean McCarron and Tricia Cosaro chose to direct a one-act in order to fulfill their senior project requirement in the theater department. Under the guidance of faculty advisor, Dr. Barbara Fraser, the students chose which piece they wanted to direct, and subsequently held auditions.

D'Angelo described the significant difference in her experience as a director as being that she is "now creating a vision (of the characters) myself and helping my actors to reach that vision." Galvin commented that, although it has been fun working with his fellow classmates, "it has also been a challenge because of the role-reversal. People I have acted alongside of, I now have to ask to get serious." The plays, for the most part, reflect that seriousness.

Galvin warns that his play, "The Insanity of Mary Girard" is for mature audiences, as it takes place in an insane asylum in 1790. Mary Girard, the play's main character, experiences a psychological destruction as the inmates transform into haunting characters of her imagination. Galvin chose this piece because he was able to "visualize a lot of what I could do with the play; it seemed like something that could jump off the page and really be fun to watch."

D'Angelo's piece is titled, "David's Red-Haired Death" and also deals with some heavy issues. "It is the story of two women that fall in love but are torn apart when one character, Jean, cannot deal with the death of her brother." The themes are of that of loss and regret, and the subject matter is rather "emotionally compelling," which is the reason she chose it, explains D'Angelo. She also hopes that it will "touch the audience on a personal level as it touched [her]self."

Cosaro's piece is entitled "Pitching to the Star"; and McCarron's piece is entitled "A Little Piece of Home." The festival kicks off at Fess Parker Studio Theatre this Saturday, Feb. 16, at 2 p.m. with a second performance Sunday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. The prices are $5 for an individual performance or $15 for all four performances.