Reporter: Ohlone College’s Theatre department hosted its annual playwrights festival last week. The show features 10 plays and musicals written for students.
Lance Renteria: all the playwrights written by different people, and based it off each actor in the play. so we got interviewed and they took that interview and incorporated what they saw in us and they put it into a story so they could relate us to some of the characters in a way.
Michael Navarra Smith: And then they send those interviews to the playwrights and the playwrights have 5 weeks to write a play specifically for them. So the whole process is about getting plays that are specifically for the student here at ohlone.
Troung Le Dign: It’s run by students. we work together, we try to collaborate together. Its very fun because you’re around people your age
Michael Navarra Smith: The playwrights festival, the Ohlone playwrights festival is part of a class called student repertory theatre and what student repertory theatre is, is a class of all student actors, directors, designers, and stage managers. And so it’s all student-run, is the idea behind it.
Reporter: The festival gives students the opportunity to act in a role created for them.
Michael Navarra Smith: Usually, when you are doing a play, most plays are already written. oftentimes they’re already established, maybe they’ve been done in other places. And then there’s a whole body of work that we call new plays. And those are still written not for the actor, but it’s a new play a playwright wrote and now a company is going to produce it for the first time. We call that a world premiere. we’re doing that but we’re taking it a step further in that we are having the playwrights write specifically for those actors.
Reporter: Students in the repertory theatre class spend time and work to get to performance day. Along the way, they make friends and new memories.
Lance: I had to learn how to heely, and I was riding them during our dress rehearsal and I slipped a little bit. Everyone was saying it’s okay and you did great. everyone was super positive about it, not to worry.
Troung: Getting together with the gang, usually after class and going out to eat. get to know them better as a person.it’s cool.
Reporter: Experiences like the playwrights festival help students grow as more than just actors.
Micheal: So we have 10 different plays. one of them is a musical, and each one has its own unique storyline, theme to it. And a lot of it has to do with what the students are already getting the opportunity to work on. whether it’s acting or the technical side, or they’re directing, and so on. And so for me, it’s really just getting to see each one of the students have a moment for themselves that they really shine in, so any time I see that, thats what inspires me.
Troung:I hope that parents are proud of their children who where performing in font of us.some of them have have fright stage, or stage fright and they conquered that, which is pretty powerful.
Lance: I suggest taking the class, honestly its a really fun class, its offered only in the spring.
Reporter: For more information on theatre events and classes, you can visit www.ohlone.edu/theatreanddance This has been Cavyn McDonald with Ohlone tri-city news.
May 10 2023
Ohlone College Playwrights Festival
This story about the Ohlone College Playwrights Festival was first broadcast during the live Ohlone Tri-City News program on May 10, 2023.
Cavyn McDonald, Reporter
Gustavo Sotelo, Photographer
Reporter: Ohlone College’s Theatre department hosted its annual playwrights festival last week. The show features 10 plays and musicals written for students.
Lance Renteria: all the playwrights written by different people, and based it off each actor in the play. so we got interviewed and they took that interview and incorporated what they saw in us and they put it into a story so they could relate us to some of the characters in a way.
Michael Navarra Smith: And then they send those interviews to the playwrights and the playwrights have 5 weeks to write a play specifically for them. So the whole process is about getting plays that are specifically for the student here at ohlone.
Troung Le Dign: It’s run by students. we work together, we try to collaborate together. Its very fun because you’re around people your age
Michael Navarra Smith: The playwrights festival, the Ohlone playwrights festival is part of a class called student repertory theatre and what student repertory theatre is, is a class of all student actors, directors, designers, and stage managers. And so it’s all student-run, is the idea behind it.
Reporter: The festival gives students the opportunity to act in a role created for them.
Michael Navarra Smith: Usually, when you are doing a play, most plays are already written. oftentimes they’re already established, maybe they’ve been done in other places. And then there’s a whole body of work that we call new plays. And those are still written not for the actor, but it’s a new play a playwright wrote and now a company is going to produce it for the first time. We call that a world premiere. we’re doing that but we’re taking it a step further in that we are having the playwrights write specifically for those actors.
Reporter: Students in the repertory theatre class spend time and work to get to performance day. Along the way, they make friends and new memories.
Lance: I had to learn how to heely, and I was riding them during our dress rehearsal and I slipped a little bit. Everyone was saying it’s okay and you did great. everyone was super positive about it, not to worry.
Troung: Getting together with the gang, usually after class and going out to eat. get to know them better as a person.it’s cool.
Reporter: Experiences like the playwrights festival help students grow as more than just actors.
Micheal: So we have 10 different plays. one of them is a musical, and each one has its own unique storyline, theme to it. And a lot of it has to do with what the students are already getting the opportunity to work on. whether it’s acting or the technical side, or they’re directing, and so on. And so for me, it’s really just getting to see each one of the students have a moment for themselves that they really shine in, so any time I see that, thats what inspires me.
Troung:I hope that parents are proud of their children who where performing in font of us.some of them have have fright stage, or stage fright and they conquered that, which is pretty powerful.
Lance: I suggest taking the class, honestly its a really fun class, its offered only in the spring.
Reporter: For more information on theatre events and classes, you can visit www.ohlone.edu/theatreanddance This has been Cavyn McDonald with Ohlone tri-city news.
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