One Acts: Doing what works "I t is a dynamic, didactic experience; it is your own cr€- ativism." Thus Bob Chandler, one of the 16 students enrolled in Speech 310. play directing , described his impression as director of a one act play. The class was designed to serve several functions. Instruc tor Charles Parker explained, 'This course takes the study of principles of theatre arts a bit further. giving the students a little practical experience. Once you' re in the middle, most of your theory has to go out the window, and you have to do what works. " The students, too , had their particular goals. Ellen Walker, a senior Speech major, stated , "It was exciting to see my idea of what the play meant come alive on stage. It was important for me to know that I could do it , and that I liked doing it. " According to Parker, the diffi· culty in ' airecting lies in "taking the form of the play and some raw talent and trying to give it meaning. " However, other problems also faced the novice directors. 'There was a lot of overlap trying to schedule around everyone's activitjes and the other one acts," stated Parker. Agreeing that time for preparation was sometimes short, Ward Bartlett reflected, "No matter how well you do, there's always a little bit extra that you wish you had done. " All of the student directors interviewed felt that the experience had been valuable to them as actors as well as future directors. "If every actor understood the director 's role more, " commented Chandler, "he could allow himself to be used more, to let the director flow through him so that he could devote all his energy strictly to the perfonnance ..- The student directors also agreed that they would like to direct again, Why? Paul Perkins summarized, "Because it was funl " - Melanie McMillen ~ 33 One Acts
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==