This festival presented 9 student-written, student-acted, and TADW-alumni directed short plays, of for the most part, pretty good quality:
- “Your Class President”, written by Amanda Cummins, directed by Jill Novick, acted by Chloe Bryant and Lindsay Robb. This was the story of a girl running for class president, trampling everyone along the way. The weakest of the bunch, in my opinion, although the storyline was mentioned in other plays. In this one, the actresses overacted a little, believing every word required an accompanying action. But the series got better.
- “Chemical Dependency”, written by Zach Graber, directed by Stephanie Blaze, with Alia Bakr, Nona Harutyunyan, and Gaby Koek. This was a better play, building off the notion of so many people seeing therapists. It ended on a joke, which had the problem that folks started applauding too soon so no one could hear it.
- “Darkroom”, written by Haylee-Rae Averill, directed by Brittany Surrett, with Alec Nelson, Malena Riccardelli, and Lauren Steinberg. This was the story of a girl who lived in a darkroom and behind her camera, given to her by her father before his death. At the end, she comes out to accept life. Well written, reasonably well acted.
- “Mommy Murdoc”, written by Mandee Pro, directed by Doug Kayne, with Caitlin McCarthy and Jeannine Orosz. This was the story of two flight attendants, one just discovering she was pregnant, the other knowing, both impregnated by the captain of their flight. Well acted, but the story didn’t work too well.
- “When you gaze into the Abyss…”, written by Polina Alekseenko, directed by Michael Russ, with Ashley Durrer and Inga Harutyunyan. A murder or spy mystery. Another weak play. I couldn’t quite figure out the story, and Inga didn’t speak clearly enough to follow her words.
- “Confused Love”, written by Angelica Valiton, directed by Brent Rosen, with Bobby Lebeda, Raleigh Stamper, and Sidnie Thomas. The story of a boy who has two girls ask him to a Sadie Hawkins dance. Well written, well acted.
- “In A Rich Man’s World”, written by Jessica Wingenbach, directed by Laura Clark, with Margot Parker-Elder, Miranda Riddle, and Taelyr Souza. Another strong story about the effect of a working mother on her kids, who aren’t having the life they want. Again, well written and well acted.
- “Get Over It”, written by Carly Danielle Mayer, directed by Amy Geiger, with Maddie Dugan and Amanda Voyce. The story of two young girls in their first gay relationship, and how they will tell their unaccepting parents. Very well written and very well acted.
- “For The Love of Lettuce”, written by Will Coates, directed by Jennifer Potell, with Becca Lasky and Wesley Rodriguez. The story of a young man who loves meat, who goes out on a blind date with a vegetarian child of the woods. This one started slow, but got much better.
So that’s it for this brief TADW interlude. This afternoon, we return to the big theatre world with Beauty and the Beast at Cabrillo Music Theatre.
