A group of students will direct, produce and act in four to six student-written short plays this spring for AACC’s returning Black Box Series.
The student directors, selected by AACC Theater over winter break, will hold open auditions on Jan. 31. The students, including actors, stage managers, designers and tech, will rehearse for three weeks before the show.
“It’s a community you build up really fast,” Madeline Austin, a theater professor who helps organize the shows, said. “It’s a great way to have a lot of fun.”
This is the second year in a row AACC Theater has organized the Black Box Series, and Austin said she plans for it to be an annual event.
“Last year was so successful; there was such enthusiasm for it,” Austin said.
She added the series is a good opportunity for students to try new things outside their comfort zones.
“I love it when someone comes up to me and says, ‘I’ve put a play in,’ and a friend says, ‘I’m going to direct’ or ‘I’m going to try sound, let me try sound,’” Austin said. It’s great “to get students … the opportunity to have such a positive, creative experience that will, you know, affect them.”
Second-year theater student Olivia Comeau, who participated in Black Box last year, said it was “awesome” for “encouraging students’ creativity.”
“We were almost sold out for both nights,” she said. “The community received it really well.”
Comeau said “every part of [the Black Box Series] was amazing,” but her favorite part was “the time frame. Theater is amazing, but full-length plays are a huge time commitment. It was nice that it didn’t suck up all my time.”
Second-year legal studies student Jackson Darrow, who directed one of the shows last year, called the experience “interesting.”
“I had acted for six years but never directed,” Darrow said. “It kind of helped me realize the thought process of the directors of the shows I had done.”
The series gets its name from black box theater, a type of show performed in small venues with black-painted walls and minimal props.
Between the shows, the AACC improv club, Overcast Improv, will entertain the crowd.
The show will run in Humanities 112 on Feb. 28 and March 1 at 7 p.m., and on March 2 at 2 p.m.
