The Wayne State College theatre program is putting on its first ever student-led one acts April 24-16.
There are nine different one acts, each directed by a different student. Ashly Gunderson is one of the student directors, and her show is called “Heat Lightning.”
“Heat Lightning is a story about a young girl who has just experienced witnessing a very traumatic event, and she finds safety in a bus station in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and there is one other man there,” Gunderson said.
Gunderson explained how this young girl shares her story with this man. Later, another man shows up, and the young girl thinks he committed the crime. There is no theme or message that the audience will be left in with this play. Gunderson’s favorite one acts are those that don’t necessarily have a happy ending.
“I really appreciate theatre that doesn’t have a super happy ending, and the end of this one isn’t a super happy ending tied with a pretty bow,” Gunderson said.
This is the very first year that WSC is creating student-led one acts. Rusty Ruth, a communication arts professor at WSC, is offering a new class called advanced directing that will be added to the curriculum.
These one acts are fully created by students.
“During the advanced directing class, we are the set designer, the director, the costume designer, the props master,” Gunderson said. “We are all of those things, which is what makes it such a well-rounded course.”
If the students have questions, they can go to Ruth, but ultimately, the director gets the final say on everything to do with the show. The directors and students learned to find a balance between friendship and professionalism.
“It’s hard to find that line and plant it between friendships outside of the rehearsal and being professional inside the rehearsal,” Gunderson said.
Gunderson aimed for 25 hours of rehearsal time, as her show “Heat Lightning” takes about 25 minutes to run through.
“For every minute on stage we try to have about an hour of rehearsal time to work through each minute of the play,” Gunderson said.
Student-directed one acts run differently compared to shows put on by faculty. There are also some aspects that make it more difficult.
“It’s a lot more paperwork, professional, and we are putting it on for the public which is another added stress factor,” Gunderson said. “I think all of those things combined make it more difficult, which makes the reward so much greater.”
The one acts will be performed April 24-26, with three shows each night starting at 7 p.m. Find them in the black box theatre in the Peterson Fine Arts building.