NWC playwrights to present original one-acts

Northwestern College students will present eight new plays during the 15th annual World Premiere Festival March 26 and 27. Performances begin at 7 each night in the England Theatre of the DeWitt Theatre Arts Center. Community members are invited to attend the free event, and to come and go between performances.

The student-authored plays are works in progress, says theatre professor Karen Barker. “Putting a play on its feet helps the playwright hear and see what’s working and what’s not,” she says. “It helps them think about what the next step for their play might be.”

Hearts in the Library, by senior Susan Schoenrock, depicts the awkwardness of trying to meet someone you’re attracted to. The play, which takes place in a library, will be directed by junior Anna Pitney. Hannah Barker and Cody Raak play the awkward couple; Aleah Stenberg is the librarian.

Senior Greta Hays will direct Rebecca Dix’s play Failure to Fall, about the art of failing. Dix is a senior. Actors in the drama are Sarah Fisher and Joel Koster.

A Moment in Darkness, written by senior Nick Rohlf and directed by Andrew Stam, a sophomore, will star Barker and Fisher in addition to Aaron Bauer, Tiemen Godwaldt, Ericha Walden, Dan Langerud and Sam Schouweiler. The play explores who God is compared to who we think God is.

Pitney wrote Chance Encounter, about a divorced waitress, divorce lawyer and love lost. Junior Sara Chipman will direct Godwaldt, Langerud, Raak, Abby Bierly and Shelby Vander Molen.

Dan Cole and Heather Craven will act in Changing Love, about what it means to trust God with your soulmate. The play was written by Renee Ausborn, a junior; Baylie Heims, a senior, will direct.

Dix will direct an untitled play by senior Yuika Ida. The drama takes place in Hiroshima during World War II and stars Bauer, Walden and Martin Beeler.

To Catch a Fish, by Stenberg, is about fathers, sons and fish phobias. Actors are Beeler and Sky Tiahrt. They will be directed by sophomore Kristin Trease.

Junior Dan Laird’s The Perfect Picture, about masks and what they hide, will be directed by Keely Wright, a freshman. Bierly, Cole, Craven, Koster, Stenberg and Vander Molen have roles in the production.

For approximate start times of the world premiere one-acts, contact Jennifer Sabo, DeWitt Theatre Arts Center manager, 712-707-7341 or jennifer.sabo@nwciowa.edu.