Acting students performed plays with student directors in the McKay Auditorium as their final assignment for Dr. Craig Ferre’s drama class during a two-night event the week of March 23. Though attendance was surprisingly low, audience members expressed great enjoyment during each performance. Ferre announced at the beginning of both evenings that this year’s One Act play event would be the last to come in the foreseeable future. Aliya Qureshi, a freshman international relations major from Santa Barbara, Calif., performed in the one act play series as a student participant. “The great thing about Shakespeare is that he had an amazing sense of humor that is timeless,” said Qureshi, “so audiences past present and future are able to connect and understand his messages.” “I love doing modernized (and I’ve done some future-ized) Shakespearean plays because of this, and the Shakespearean language adds to the beauty or humor of the show,’she said. Students from all walks of life came together in their drama class and chose plays to memorize and perform for their final project. Since there were 10 women and one man, the students had to find plays with a majority female cast. “I love seeing a majority women in plays. It give me a sense of empowerment,” said Gina Velasquez, a sophomore accounting major from Santa Clara, Calif. “It wasn’t really anything fancy for rehearsals. It’s in class so we had class time to work on it. We memorized our scripts, came to class, prayed a bunch, and then kind of just hoped it would work,” said participant Taimi Kennerley, a freshmen from Orem, Utah. The BYU-Hawaii Theatre program requires its students to participate in plays and such in each classroom setting as part of a larger curriculum of growing in self-awareness, confidence, and animated and persuasive expression. According to the department’s website, “the Theatre Department produces four plays each year that are open to all students. The plays are a variety of comedy and serious, classical and modern. One of these is always a musical produced with the Music Department.” For those interested in these productions, there are talent awards given at the end of each prospective production. “It was a night to remember. I loved seeing all the student talent on stage,” said Keturah Costello, freshman exercise and sports science major from Nikiski, Alaska. For more information on the music and Theatre Department, visit music and theatre.byuh.edu and explore its event calendar. The next department-sponsored event will be the Concert Choir performance on April 3 in the auditorium from 7:30 to 9 p.m.Uploaded April 2, 2015
Writer: Morgynne Tora
