SHERBURNE – Like any good sports coach, Colleen Law-Tefft knows that you should always be on the lookout for new talent, grooming potential stars as they come up through the ranks. Only her players aren’t athletes, they’re actors.
To build participation in her Sherburne-Earlville Drama Club, Law-Tefft puts on a show of short, one-act plays each fall. “It’s really good training and preparation for the bigger shows,” the veteran drama coach said. Producing 11 one-act plays, each clocking in at 10 minutes or less, is a great way “to see who’s out there,” Law-Tefft said. In her current cast of about 40 students in grades 6-12, the director said about half are brand-new to her, and to the S-E stage.
This eclectic troupe of actors – and directors, playwrights, set builders, painters, costumers, props managers and stage crew – will present “Acting Up!” an evening of one-act comedies and dramas, at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday in the S-E high school auditorium. Tickets are $5.
As in past years, Law-Tefft isn’t doing all the directing work herself. Five student directors – Justine Cameron, Ellen Fagan, Liz Foster, Joe Mettler and Justin Utegg – are taking the reins of their own short plays.
Fagan, a junior, said she was drawn to the director’s chair for “the opportunity to see it from both sides.” A seasoned actress in her own right, Fagan said the directing experience has been a real eye-opener. “You really have to work hard with the actors to get them to portray what you want them to,” adding that her piece, “Always,” is especially difficult in that it involves four actors, each playing half of the same couple at different points in their relationship. “The blocking was a challenge,” she says of the characters’ movement, but adds that the end result is a “heartbreaking” drama.
Mettler, also a junior at S-E, pulls triple duty in this weekend’s production. He’s an actor in a couple of the playlets, and the segment he’s directing is one he wrote himself, a comedic prison piece called “Any Minute.”
“I guess I don’t consider myself the best actor, but I’m really passionate about writing,” Mettler said. “Writing about emotions is easier than acting them out for me.” While he admits that seeing his fellow thespians toy with lines that he wrote himself in his Monty Python-flavored piece was tough, he understands their craft. Directing “really helps build your people skills,” he said.
The cast of “Acting Up!” includes: Jennifer Angelo, Josh Ayers, Alison Bensley, Justine Cameron, Brittany Clark, Amanda Cruz, Tabitha Damren, Chris Dushko, Margaret Dushko, Zoe Enscoe, Adrian Enscoe, Ellen Fagan, Liz Foster, Geana Giglio, Brent Guiles, Brenda Hoefler, Kimberlie Johnson, Stephanie Joyce, Joe Mettler, Isaac Mettler, Juliet Morin, Taylor Morris, Sierra Morris, Eric Muth, Haley Muth, Bekah Riley, Lulu Riley, Eric Robertson, Nicholas Roe, Tyler Rundell, Randi Searles, Lucy Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Luke Taylor, Jeff Taylor, Veronica Taylor, Justin Utegg, Jake von Mechow, Rachel Walters, Laura Ward, and Mark Wessing.
And the best part about an evening of one-act plays? “If you don’t like one, there’s another one coming along in 10 minutes,” Law-Tefft said.