<\/p>\n
The Montezuma-Cortez High School drama department will present \u201cThe Student-Directed One-Act Festival\u201d Jan. 29 and 30.<\/p>\n
The four plays are a mix of comedy, philosophy of death, and Shakespearian spoof.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe audience can expect a wide variety, from speak-easy scenes, to superheroes and mob-boss plots,\u201d said drama teacher Nick Sandner.<\/p>\n
One-act plays are put on every other year by students in the advanced theater studies class. This time, Sandner focused on building strong directing skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked a lot on what it means to direct, all the way from picking a play, to casting, auditions, and rehearsals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Students Nicole Shock and Cassidy Livengood are directing \u201cThe Desperate Housewives of Shakespeare.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play brings together all the women in Shakespeare plays in a revenge plot against Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe belittles them, so they plan to do the same to him,\u201d Shock said. \u201cIt is a comedy with a lot of laughs and weird twists and turns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Student David Gonzales-Overton wrote and will direct the play \u201cA Salesman of Death,\u201d an original plot inspired by the famous play of a similar name and the Yorick scene in \u201cHamlet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an allegory of the acceptance of death, that it\u2019s something you have to come to terms with,\u201d Gonzales-Overton said. \u201cA door-to-door salesman sells death using flashbacks from a girl\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing and directing the first rehearsal was a moment to remember.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could not get over that these characters I had imagined were coming to life onstage,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has the effect that I was going for.\u201d<\/p>\n
His friend Kaleb Burris is the main actor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a great costume,\u201d he said. \u201cDavid wants it to be deep philosophy, but I\u2019m in improv so I can see how it could be a tragic comedy as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other plays are \u201cThe Superhero Support Group\u201d directed by Grace Higley and Tatianna Mahan-Higgins, and \u201cThe Creepy Corpse of Cal Capone\u201d directed by Madison Echols.<\/p>\n
The plays run at the M-CHS Vavak auditorium on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m., and on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students, and free for age 5 and under.<\/p>\n