In light of last Friday’s snowstorm, the Anselmian Abbey Players rewarded students willing to brave the storm with free admission to the 2013 One-Act Plays.
Despite the storm, the Dana Center was bustling with audience members on Friday evening. “The audience was composed almost entirely of students,” said Matt Hurd, “which we like to see.” After all, the One-Act Plays are a organized, cast, directed, and occasionally written exclusively by students.
Matt Hurd, a senior Theology major, wrote and directed one of three one-act plays performed this past weekend. Hurd’s play, entitled November, journals the struggles of a young man named Terry who became infected with HIV after being accidentally exposed to tainted blood.
“I was writing to examine the sort of questions that arise when you’re faced with death,” Hurd said. Hurd’s exploratory storyline gripped Sophomore student Brittney Taylor: “I was completely invested in the character. I knew Terry was going to die from the start of the play, but it still shook me.”
Hurd admits that writing the play was a taxing process: “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever written. It is especially difficult because it is theme-based, and consequently more abstract than a simple story line.”
The great difficulty of launching an entirely student-run play was eased, in part, by Herd’s capable cast. Jake Hebert ’15 played the role of Terry. Hurd was extraordinarily impressed by Hebert’s dedication: “It was a challenging role,” Hurd said, “in part because of the sheer amount of material Jake had to memorize.”
Talia Jalette ’16 played the role of Terry’s best friend and confident, Sam. Hurd said, “I’m fairly sure that Talia has never been on stage before, but you would never be able to tell. From the moment she auditioned, even in a cold reading, I knew she would bring the part to life.”
November was performed along with two other one-act plays. Steve Martin’s culturally analytical play entitled WASP was directed by Freshman Jim Brennan. Here she is! by Joyce Carol Oats was codirected by Jen Murray and Zach Gregoric.