By MARY LYNNE O’NEAL

Staff Writer

For students enrolled in the spring Play Direction class, grades are based on lights, cameras and action.

Tech students in this class have the opportunity to play the role of director for student one-act plays.

"The student-directed plays have been going on every spring for as long as I can remember," Dr. Kenneth Robbins, a professor of theatre and the director of the School of Performing Arts, said. "We have students from all types of majors that audition and make the casts every year."

The cast lists went up this week for 11 student-directed plays to be performed May 9-11 in Stone Theatre, located in Howard Auditorium, Center for the Performing Arts.

Robbins said the 11 plays that will be performed this year are a mixture of dramas and comedies, and none of them are related to each other.

Jena Sharpton, a senior communication design major, is directing a play titled "A Time for Farewells," a play about a relationship broken apart by tragedy, written by British playwright Damian Trasler, with three males and one female.

Because of the play's British background, Sharpton and her cast discussed in their first rehearsal how they have to make adjustments for the American version.

"We got the rights to change words in the script to suit my group, just to make it a little more understandable for our audience," Sharpton said.

Sharpton said it is time consuming to direct a play, but she enjoys working with different people to bring a play together.

Macy Helms, a graduate student of speech, said the student one-act plays give everyone a chance to show his or her talents and to be involved with theatre.

"It's part volunteer and part of the [Play Direction] class," Helms said. "Everything is student-designed, from the lighting to the sound and the sets."

Helms is a cast member of a two-person show titled "Morning Coffee," directed by Helen Armstrong, a sophomore speech major. The play is about a couple going through a divorce and trying to divide their assets.

She said the directors use small sets, with each director reusing several of the same pieces because of the quick changes and short shows, and very simple costumes.

Helms said the theatre department had auditions March 29-30. The first night was the actual audition with a one-minute monologue and the next night was for callbacks.

"The auditions were semi-closed, where we would have five people come in at a time to perform, and then send them out in exchange for five more," Helms said. "Tuesday night was more for looking at how everyone looked on stage and doing cold readings of the script."

Helms said she enjoys being a part of the student-directed plays, though it is as hectic as a full production would be.

Tickets will go on sale at the Howard box office May 2-9.