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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (April 26, 2004) —The Milligan College theater department will present seven plays and three student films at the annual One Act Festival next week. One Act plays will be held nightly in the McMahan Student Center April 26-28 at 6 p.m. Films will be shown on April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Wilson Auditorium. All events are free and open to the public.
The One Act play festival started in 1987 by Richard Major, professor of theater at Milligan College, as an opportunity for theatre students to direct and produce their own productions. Since then, over 150 plays have been performed, involving hundreds of students.
“The annual festival of One Act Plays was launched to ignite a spark of enthusiasm amongst students and to give them an opportunity to experience first-hand the craft of directing a project from beginning to end,” said Major.
Seven students from Major’s Fundamentals of Directing class will direct this year’s plays: Victoria Bailey of Batavia, Ohio; Eric Blackburn of Johnson City, Tenn.; Amber Carderelli of Lynchburg, Va.; Natasha Hill of Maryville, Tenn.; Josiah Potter of North Fort Myers, Fl.; Martha Rose of Staunton, Va.; and Crystal VanMeter of Evansville, Ind.
The student directors choose a play, conduction auditions, cast and rehearse the play. In addition to the directors, 40 Milligan College students will serve as actors and each director has a stage manager.
“One of the great by-products of the festival has been our inclusion of short films produced by Milligan communication majors,” said Major.
This year’s films are produced by Eric Blackburn of Johnson City, Tenn.; Phil Brock of Burlington, Ky.; and Eric Starr of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
“The fine arts major at Milligan cultivates the development of Christian artists who strive for the highest standards of artistic excellence,” said Major. Fine arts majors can focus in art, music, photography or theatre at Milligan.
The addition of student films to the annual One Acts Festival in recent years is indicative of the college’s growing communications major, particularly in the area of film studies.
“We need more Christians in the television, film and communications industries,” said Dr. Bruce Montgomery, associate professor of communications. “Our influence as Christians in those areas is essential.”
For more information about the One Acts Festival, contact Richard Major at 423.461.8771.