Student Work Takes The Main Stage in School Year’s First Production

For many, these first few weeks on campus have been enveloped in syllabi and socializing. But the cast and crew of Loyola’s Student Play Fest hit the ground running. 

The Student Play Fest is a new initiative from Loyola, a mainstage production featuring three one-act plays coming out of Sandra Delgado’s playwriting class in spring 2023, according to the theatre department website. The plays were written as the final project for the class. Students involved have exactly one month from the first day of school to opening night Sept. 28 to materialize the production.

Each performance is directed by theatre professor Emily Ritger who said for students and staff, the show offers a reflection on modernity and the happenings amongst Generation Z. 

“All three of these pieces are so steeped in this generation’s voice,” Ritger said, “It certainly made me appreciate and see things a little differently, hearing my student’s perspective in this way.”

The plays were selected over the summer by Loyola’s director of theatre Lee Keenan. The writers were approached in June about the opportunity. 

Fourth-year Emm Socey wrote “Untitled Dream Girl” and described feeling honored when they were selected for the show.

“Getting that email felt like an endorsement of my ability from the department,” Socey said.

The plays are still being workshopped, even as rehearsals are in full swing and the opening night deadline draws nearer. Ritger said her background in play development draws her to the nature of an unfinished project.

The writers echoed a similar sentiment. They said the opportunity to see their work live and receive feedback has led to frequent editing of each playwright’s scripts. The edits are expected to continue up to the week of opening. 

Writers will sit in on rehearsals and then have the opportunity to revisit their work. Then they can make changes to things they see that don’t read the same on stage as they had on paper, lean into the pieces of their script that are resonating with the actors and cut out remnants from previous drafts which no longer fit in the new evolution of the script. Ritger said they will “open the script” for edits three times over the course of the rehearsal process.

“That’s exciting to see,” Ritger said. “From that first reading what they heard with these actors, how much they were inspired and how much that affected what they were putting in the page.” 

The student-driven production aims to strengthen a sense of community within Loyola, touching on themes close to the experiences of young people everywhere. Annika Halonen’s “The Familiar Perils of a Vacation Bible School Education,” which they describe as a  “family comedy turned supernatural”. discusses age, gender and family while bringing up emotions and situations many college students may feel familiar with. 

“The play itself is set at the kid’s table,” Halonen said, “It’s one of those things where, like, you go off to college, and you think about who you are, and what you want to be and then you come back and you’re like, ‘oh, shit, this is the same kid’s table that we’ve been eating Thanksgiving at since we were like 10 years old or younger.’” 

Aimee Jaske’s “Much to Do About Valentine” takes the comedic route with a story of a student’s unrequited crush on an English teacher. Jaske said the inspiration came from her own life, dramatized to explore a scene of adolescence. 

“When I was in high school I was in love with one of my teachers and so I thought what would — if I didn’t have any common sense — what would I have done?” Jaske said. 

Socey said “Untitled Dream Girl” deconstructs the Manic Pixie Dream Girl image while delving into personal relationships. They said the play was inspired in part by a conversation with a friend, discussing the archetype, and how they see themselves and their identities in the way in which those characters are mischaracterized by outside perceptions.

Socey said the script follows a cast of people navigating the transitional periods in their lives and struggling through the endeavor to improve their lives. 

“It is a wonderful exercise in community building, and it is what Loyola theater is and strives to be,” Halonen said.
The Student Play Fest will host performances in the Newhart Family Theatre from Sept. 28 to Oct. 8. Tickets are available for purchase online.

Featured image by Ryan Pittman / The Phoenix