Theater fest displays talent

Date: 4/26/2011

April 27, 2011

By Lori Szepelak

Correspondent

CHICOPEE — Five members of the Holyoke Catholic High School's Performing Arts Department are experiencing the trials and tribulations of being a director as they present their own short plays as part of the "Plays In Ten" production at Elms College this spring.

Eva Stockhamer, Holyoke Catholic's producer and executive director, is overseeing the production and lending her many years of experience to the budding directors.

Stockhamer noted in an interview with Reminder Publications that these students are the first to write and direct their own 10-minute short.

Stockhamer added that area residents should come out to support these students for several reasons.

"One reason is to support the writer/directors in their efforts in writing," she said. "I was so pleased to see such work being done. Secondly, for the whole cast. Acting in a 10-minute play is harder than it sounds. You must establish a character quickly, get the audience invested in them and take the audience from the beginning through the middle and then come to an end all in 10 minutes."

"Plays In Ten" will be staged May 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Veritas Auditorium at Elms College.

Student directors are Kristen Fraser, junior; and Benjamin Viens, Mary MacNeil-Blackmer, Mara Palma, and Haley Lannon, all seniors.

Palma's play is entitled "Text is Worth a Thousand Words," which explores a love story between two teenagers who talk about the love of communication and talking in general.

"The message is that there is no substitute for face-to-face communication, especially in the modern day world where people are becoming less understanding of another's words," Palma said.

Palma added that her play is relevant "because the Internet, text messaging and social networking sites are threatening to destroy all traces of the art of conversation."

Fraser's play is entitled "Procrastination," and tells the story of a typical high school girl who procrastinates while writing an English assignment.

"Her friends and family come in at various intervals throughout the afternoon giving her ideas, until she realized that she can use her procrastination as an inspiration," Fraser said. "Sometimes, good things can come out of bad things."

Fraser noted that everyone has procrastinated at one point in their lives.

"It's something that anyone at any age can relate to," she said.

"A Work in Progress" is the title of Viens' play, which depicts how actors struggle in plays with the concept of being able to let go and have fun with everything.

"The lesson is to not be so self-conscious and just let go and have fun with what you do," Viens said. "The play is relevant today because it shows people that they are all different, and people will not judge you for who you are. People just need to be themselves, and do not forget to have fun while doing it."

MacNeil-Blackmer's play is entitled "The Stage," which shows how actors are cast in a production.

"People are not always as they appear and fit many roles in life," she said. "The stage can be seen easily in any place and any life. All of us have seen this play before and we will see it many times over as we go from day to day."

Lannon rounds out the student-directed plays with "Lunch Room Encounter," a tale about two groups of girls and their interactions with the cute, new transfer student. The groups represent two "very different" ends of the high school "social spectrum," but they have surprising similarities, according to Lannon.

"The lesson is that people are not as different from one another as they think," Lannon said. "The play confronts the issues of stereotypes and hypocrisy. It shows that differences are created from prior preconceptions and not from actual interactions with people."

In addition to these five student-directed plays, there are an additional five short plays that will be staged.

"All of these plays were chosen to remind us of something, show us a kinder way or to inspire us to do our best, show our best, and most of all, be our best without losing sight of the world around us," Stockhamer said.

Assisting Stockhamer and the student directors behind the scenes are Dr. Frank Croke, lighting director, with Sam Stockhamer; Darryl Geoffrey, back stage manager, with Andrew Beaulieu; Dr. Andy Boraski, Paul Morey, Dr. Frank Croke, and Poppa Goddu, set management, and Harvey Stockhamer, sound.

Cast members lending their artistic talents to the plays include Samm Alves, Kesley Barton, Christina Benigno, Andrea Boraski, Natalie Davies, Meghan Dumas, Bryan Garcia, Francis Greany, Kristen Fraser, Joe Kass, Haley Lannon, Kevin Lempke, Mary Mancniel, Natasha Mercado, Mara Palma, Dan Rich, Victoria Stuetzel, Destiny Viarengo and Benjamin Viens.

Tickets are $8 for mothers in celebration of Mother's Day weekend, as well as for seniors and students. Tickets are $10 for all other attendees.

During intermission, a concession stand is planned with homemade goodies to include freshly stuffed cannoli from Cerrato's Pastry Shop.