One Act: Theatre Day

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Brielle Alwin, Staff Writer

On Thursday, October 4, the One Act cast and crew traveled to Chadron State College for the 28th annual theatre day. Theatre day is a day long conference that is filled with workshops, activities, and a performance by the Chadron State Theatre department. This year, the Chadron State students performed The Odd Couple by Neil Simon.

Once the cast and crew arrived at Memorial Hall, everyone gathered in the auditorium for a welcoming ceremony. Here, the director and college students discussed the different workshops and games that were open to students. Each was only allowed to choose two sessions to visit, the most popular being theatre makeup, stage combat, theatre games, and musical dance moves. Some of the other workshops were audition techniques, how to create a character, writing your own scene, and costumes.

Once the workshops were complete, the One Act students watched The Odd Couple, performed in Memorial Hall on the CSC campus. It was a spin off of the original television series in 1968. The theatre students told the story of Florence Unger, a neat freak wife and mother, who moves in with her best friend, the laid back Olive Madison, after Florence’s husband asks for a divorce. According to a survey, all the students who attended CSC theatre day enjoyed the comical and dramatic play. It also showed that 30.8% of the student’s favorite character from The Odd Couple was Manolo Costazuela, a Spanish brother, played by Trajan Garcia, a 2017 graduate from Alliance High School.

Tristan Bleisch, a senior and four year One Act member, attended his third and final CSC theatre day. His favorite part of theatre day was the first workshop he attended, how to create a character. Theatre day has influenced him in a pretty good way. Tristan hopes theatre will be in his future. He has done theatre for many years, but still enjoyed it as he said, “I already knew most of what they taught us, but it was nice doing it with other people.”

CSC theatre day is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in theatre to be exposed to proper resources. It not only covered how to act, but also all the little details it takes to produce a play. The students are excited for next year’s theatre day and the One Act play Hamlette by Allison Williams that they will perform on November 27, 28, and 29.