Seniors look forward to 'Making a Scene'

Students of the Advanced Directing class will present their final projects this week. “Making a Scene,” Radford’s free and annual one-act play festival, will feature works by aspiring directors.

The five senior directors, Jordan Wommack from Virginia Beach, Marco Lotz of Woodbridge, Eileen Yost from Pulaski, A.J. Williams of Richmond and Adian Chapman from Galax will showcase a variety of acts at the show.

There are five student directors in the show and the performance will be presented on two different nights. The first set with be Wednesday, April 25 and Friday, April 27 and the second set will be Thursday, April 26 and Saturday, April 28. All of the shows will take place at 7 p.m. in the Hawes Studio Theatre at Porterfield Hall.

The student directors chose the acts to be performed in their show.

“They get to pick, and they don’t have many parameters, so they get to go after something they’re really passionate about and have a personal connection to,” said Wesley Young who teaches the Advanced Directing class

“Making a Scene” will feature an assortment of acts from different eras of theater. “[The shows] are pretty eclectic, they tend to be kind of out there. I think the student body will find most of them really entertaining and a few of them are kind of wild,” said Young.

One of the acts will be directed by senior A.J. Williams, who is combining her research interest of African American vernacular and its depiction in theater with her play selections.

Williams will be directing acts from “Rachel,” an anti-lynching play from 1920s, as well as an act from the more well-known production “A Raisin in the Sun.” Williams will show over the course of three acts the span and the changes in the depictions of African American vernacular on the stage.

Tickets to the Hawes Studio Theatre can be reserved online at the Porterfield Box Office or via phone at 540-831-5289 from the hours of noon – 6 p.m. or one hour before the start of each performance.

“It is a very fun evening because there is usually something for everybody’s taste. Within limits I try to let the directors exercise their newly-discovered directing muscles and make some bold choices,” said Young. “I think they will be entertaining.”