Annual One Act Play Festival: six short shows put on by Davis students

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The One Act Play Festival has been attracting people from all around Kaysville to the Little Theater. Over the course of four day, the 6 plays can be seen at various times in the little theatre.  Each show has around twenty cast members and they are chosen and directed by students from the Advanced Theatre class.

“Casting is difficult. You can see roles and pieces and key personalities that would fit inside your characters,” said senior Jake Smith, director of Tracks.  Casting can be difficult, but so can having a director. Senior Hayley Dearden is in Those Husbands of Ours, directed by her friend, Chandler Isbell.

“It’s fun because Chandler and I are good friends but it’s also difficult to take him seriously and take direction from him,” said Dearden. She also said that it can be difficult because the script had been written almost one hundred years ago and it had to be translated to make it sound modern.

“We had to make it sound funny because it’s a comedy and things that were funny back then aren’t that funny now,” said Dearden. However, not all of the plays are comedies. In fact, a majority of them are dramas.

Tracks is dramatic but has funny moments. It’s different and makes you think, which is what people like to see,” said Dearden. Tracks is one of the most popular shows, having about 120 people in attendance per performance. Smith said that some plays will completely sell out, having 150 viewers in a show. With the size of the audiences, the Advanced Theatre program will be making hundreds of dollars within just a few days.

“The money we make goes towards the production fees and the costumes,” said Smith. Not only does the crowd help them earn money, but it helps in deciding which play will go to the region competition.

“At the end, Andra picks one (play) to move on to region. Then if it wins there, it goes to state in the Utah High School drama competition,” said Smith. Different schools from around the state will compete with their one acts on March 21st.

One Acts won’t be the end for Advanced Theatre. They will be performing The Best Christmas Present Ever right after Spring Break and 24-Hour Theatre in May.