CSN Students Shine on Stage at One Act Festival

By Tomeisha Davis

One Act Festival showcased six different shows at the Backstage Theatre on campus.

Eleven actors, six shows, different stage settings and several characters were acted on stage during a 75-minute performance slot. Each show in One Act only has two actors on stage at once making a plot come alive in 5-to-10 minutes.

Four College of Southern Nevada students directed shows: Jorge Zamora-Fernandez, Ricky Espinosa, Katerina Abramovich and Alexa Clarke. There were three CSN students who performed in the shows: Michael Fredrickson, Daniela Munafo and Bella Snowden.

Other students and community members came to perform as well, including some from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Loyola University Chicago.

The six shows included the lineup: “Tongue Tied,” “MLPS, St. Paul,” “One Tennis Shoe,” “SalesGirl,” “At Sea” and “M Word.”

“One Tennis Show” was about a husband who was concerned about his wife becoming a bag lady— somewhat of a hoarder—told in a comedic fashion. The husband named Harry persuaded his wife to stop buying so many items. At one point he noticed cooked oatmeal in her purse.

Devon Burke, director of this show, stated, “Well, this is my first experience with One Act but I have directed other short things in other projects. The One Act is a lot of fun because you only have a couple of characters so you get really in depth really quickly with your actors and flesh out the full story arc in a short span of time and it doesn’t take as long.”

The rehearsal schedule for the One Act is compressed: Very quick. Burke said, “We have a couple of basic workshops at the very beginning of the semester where we go over technique and the fundamentals of directing in two or three lectures and then we cast and we start rehearsals the very next week and it’s just independent rehearsals after that.”

Burke commented on how Mindy Woodhead, who works in CSN’s fine arts department, comes in to oversee the process and gives notes as things go on. “It’s really a sink or swim sort of situation. You go in, you give it your all and hope it floats at the end of the day,” Burke said.

Claudia Ivonne Tilley, a UNLV alumna and actress in this show, said, the audience really brings this show to life. “When we have a really good audience, it makes the interaction a lot better.” She enjoyed being part of this play. “I think it’s a great experience for people to come see and be a part of it and support local theater.”

CSN student Alex Goncharenko attended the evening and said, “I haven’t been to a theater show in about 10 years. It was pretty fun. I liked the whole thing.” He wrote a review on the One Act for a theater class he’s enrolled in.

The One Act Festival took place at North Las Vegas campus on Feb. 28 through March 4.