By Michael Rosen-Molina
Daily Bruin Staff
The moving forces behind human history ““ what to do if a
cadaver shows up in your apartment, what really happens in the navy
““ are just a few of the important life lessons to be gathered
in the theater department’s annual showcase of student
talent.
Theaterfest 2000 is a three-day celebration of theater work by
undergraduate students. Beginning Friday and running through June
11, the shows will be performed in the MacGowan Little Theater and
at the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden.
“It’s a collaborative effort by the theater
students,” said senior theater major Robby Fabregas,
co-producer of Theaterfest. “Everything is original:
transmedia, free style movement, dance. There’s even one show
that involves a turntable with an acoustic guitar.”
Entirely student-run, without any faculty involvement,
Theaterfest experienced some early difficulties in getting
funding.
“The department is not allocating funds but it has been
very lenient,” Fabregas said. “It’s a reciprocal
relationship. We’re getting the space we requested, but it
still gets a little hectic with new plays always being
added.”
“We have fund-raisers, concerts at bars and we try to
scrounge up sponsorship from Westwood businesses,” said
co-producer Ryan Gesell, who is also a theater student.
Most plays will happen on Sunday to avoid conflicting with the
New Play Festival, which will showcase theatrical works by theater
graduate students. From the wild improv comedy of
“Tangent” to the somber “No Questions
Asked,” a play based on the true story of a young man dealing
with his mother’s murder by his stepfather, Theaterfest runs
the gamut of student arts.
Senior theater major Derek Kent will perform two one-man shows,
“Michael Jordan’s Magic Shows” and “Michael
Jordan Does It Again,” both about the drawing power of the
beloved sports star. “Bruce Blauer’s One Man
Show” examines romance, politics and abstract expression.
“They deal with issues affecting students: relationships,
what you do when you get out of school, things like that,”
Gesell said.
Although he co-produced Theaterfest with Gesell, Fabregas is
also starring in his own performance. His piece, entitled
“Cowboy Poetry,” examines stereotypes and social
responsibilities of males in today’s society using poetry
written by actual cowboys.
“Ryan Gesell found the material during some research for
another subject,” said Fabregas, who both wrote and will be
acting in “Cowboy Poetry,” “This isn’t the
first time that something like this has been done; I think that Sam
Shepard read and performed material from this book back in the
’70s. We blend the poems with what we wrote to contextualize
it and create a the idea of a modern cowboy.”
“The Adventures of Little Timmy and Tarmag the
Magnificent” is a magic show by student magician Bryan
Stoops, a junior theater student. “(Stoops) is also a
professional magician who’s performed shows at “˜The
Magic Castle,'” said Gesell.
Megan Goodchild, a senior theater student, performs “Her
Infinite Variety,” a compilation of monologues highlighting
interesting female characters, in the sculpture garden.
“Getting permission to use the sculpture garden was a
problem, but it’s nice because you don’t need special
lighting, and, as long as you project your voice, you don’t
need a fancy sound system,” Gesell said. “We’ve
had to work with skeletal props and sets, and we’re only
allowed limited lighting.”
Fourth-year theater student Kristi Chong is writer, director,
stage manager, sound designer and props master for her play,
“The Body,” a frenetic comedy-thriller about college
roommates who discover a corpse on their sofa in the middle of the
night. Chong, in describing the play, said, “It’s
morbid but it’s totally random, lots of fast-paced jokes, one
after another. I looked at this script after I wrote it and I
seriously thought, “˜What was I smoking?’ I think I was
under the influence of too many “˜Mystery Science Theater
3000′ episodes.”
Trained as an actor, “The Body” is Chong’s
first time in the director’s chair.
“It was scary, but my training really helped.” said
Chong, “I know what it’s like to be on the other side.
It was fun because, from beginning to end, I made it all by myself.
This was something that I really wanted to do to commemorate the
end of my studies at UCLA.”
Theaterfest brings together a mass of student talent.
“Everywhere you go, there’s a play going on.”
Chong said.
“Due to the other shows going on, the “New Play
Festival,” and “All’s Well that Ends Well,”
it’s hard to get rehearsal space. I held some of my rehearsal
in the sculpture garden. Also technical help is not as readily
available. Instead of a sophisticated sound system that’s
normally used for theater, I’m using my own stereo and speakers.
Fortunately, with the space I’m in, the small speakers give
the desired effect.”
Gesell also stressed the difficulties in putting together so
many shows in such a short space of time.
“There’s not much order to the performances,”
Gesell said. “It’s just a matter of doing what we can,
when we can, where we can.”
THEATER: Theaterfest will be held at MacGowan Hall Little
Theater and at the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden at 6 p.m.
Friday, June 9, and noon Saturday and Sunday.