Union’s Theatre Department is hosting two student-directed one-acts on May 6, 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the W.D. Powell Theatre. They will be performed in conjunction with senior theatre majors Sullivan Hogan and Jacob Beals’ senior showcases, which will involve scenes, songs and monologues from their repertoires.
On May 6, both one-acts, “The Dreamlost” and “Almost, Maine,” will be performed. May 7 will be “The Dreamlost” and Beals’ showcase, and May 8 will be Hogan’s one-act, “Almost, Maine,” and her showcase.
Hogan’s one-act, “Almost, Maine,” is a full-length play from which she selected three scenes. The entire play is full of short, isolated episodes, called vignettes, that all take place in the same town called Almost, Maine.
“I would call it semi-absurdist because it has very real relationships and characters with real problems, and it investigates love and relationships through absurdist elements,” Hogan said.
Hogan came across the play as a bootleg on YouTube and instantly fell in love. Ever since she first saw it, she has dreamed of directing it. When she was asked if she wanted to direct a one-act, she already knew which script she would use.
Rachel Mihalko, senior public relations major, was the assistant director for Union’s production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in fall 2020 and expressed interest to John Klonowski, associate professor of theatre, about continuing to direct community theatre for fun once she graduates. After their conversation, Klonowski approached her and asked if she wanted to pick a script and direct a one-act this semester.
“This has been such a good opportunity for me. I love doing this,” Mihalko said. “This is such an important show.”
Mihalko is directing “The Dreamlost,” which follows Prentice Dechaos, a 27-year-old whose wife died a year before the story takes place. He meets his late wife Evelyn’s family for the first time on the night the show takes place. Every character the audience encounters is dealing with grief in their own way.
She picked this script after a long search through many others because the theme of grief resonated with her, and she appreciated the depth “The Dreamlost” had to offer.
“I just really wanted something that had more meaning behind it, and I think grief is such a universal thing,” Mihalko said. “Like, you don’t have to lose a human being to experience grief, which I think is hard, but also beautiful in that it can bring people together.”
Mihalko and Hogan put in hours of work with their scripts before auditions were even held. It was evident from our conversations that both of them have a love for their stories, the important themes each one offers and theatre as an art form.
“People should come see [the one-acts] so that they can learn something about what they already know, which is love. Everybody experiences love in their life, so everybody has something they can learn from the show,” said Hogan. “We use art to interpret things we can’t fully communicate ourselves.”
