Seven act spring play brings variety to annual show

This year’s spring play format encouraged individuality  and student leadership through multiple one-act plays.

“I was blown away by how great everything about ‘And Now For Something Completely Different’ was,” sophomore Adyson Wessel said. “The student actors and directors did an excellent job through their pieces.”

The seven student directors for the show were Jabbarri Jones, Samantha Kuneman, Brandon Loe, Andrea Ochoa, JoLin Nguyen, Alex Wiggs and Jonathan Martin. They were allowed to choose what show they wanted to direct.

“Seeing my show performed on opening night was one of the most exhilarating things I have ever experienced,” Kuneman said. “This was my first time directing and so it was very hard to sit in the audience. Not being in complete control made me nervous.”

Kuneman said she chose her show “Chances in the Rain” because of its great humor.

“‘Chances in the Rain’ captured my attention right away,” Kuneman said. “I wanted the audience to relate to the show and feel for the characters. Being able to make the audience laugh was a fantastic feeling.”

Some students in the show had worked in the Oklahoma Christian University theater before, like Sloan Scott and Luke Mawhirter who starred in the spring production of “A Doll’s House” in late February. Scott said that, like with every show, this year’s play required team work for the best results.

“It amounts to something special when everybody can come together and work to create a show,” Scott said. “Then you put it in front of an audience and they’re laughing where you want them to laugh and getting the reaction you want them to experience throughout your show. All the time and effort you’ve put in is being appreciated and that uniqueness cannot be recreated.”

Phil Reagan, associate professor of communication and theater, filled the producer role for “And Now For Something Completely Different.” Reagan said he primarily mentored the students directing the individual plays.

“I am watching their directing work like a doctor watching his medical students practice on their patients,” Reagan said.

Reagan said his favorite part of the show was seeing the audience’s reaction to each show and being able to watch the directors react to seeing their shows performed to an audience.

“It’s my view that student directors probably learn more about directing from this kind of experience than anything else she or he could do,” Reagan said.

Reagan said he wants to find more ways to allow students to direct shows at Oklahoma Christian in the future.

Wessel said “And Now For Something Completely Different” allowed other students to learn about the theater department.

“It reflects from the theater department that you can be involved even if you’re not a theater person,” Wessel said. “It’s more open for everyone and I love that. Overall, I would say I’m just so excited about more students wanting to be involved in the theater department.”

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