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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2018)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 12, 2018 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary One Act Festival Jan. 18-20 By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary senior Grace Condello earned a nickname during The Wizard of Oz— Director Grace. While Condello, who had a bad habit of accidentally tell- ing her castmates what to do on stage, has never directed a show before, it has been a natural fi t. Condello is one of 12 stu- dent directors participating in the McNary One Act Festival this year. “I’m naturally a director personality,” she said. “It’s been really fun. I loved getting to be a part of the casting pro- cess and pick the people who I thought would fi t the roles and being involved in the whole process of the show.” The festival, which features 10 original one act plays, runs Jan. 18-20 at 7 p.m. in the Ken Collins Theater. Tickets are $5 and available at the McNary box offi ce each night beginning at 6:30. The directors, four of which are co-directing on two one acts, had more than 20 student written scripts from which to choose. “I felt really bad because some of them were so creative and so out of the box but it would be so incredibly diffi - cult to do it,” said Saige Bald- win, who is one of three Mc- Nary students directing her own script. “Baldwin’s one act, Stay, is a love story between two teenagers—a boy who wants to join the military but his girlfriend wants him to stay. Baldwin was thinking about the draft during the Vietnam war and her own friend who recently left for the Marines when she wrote the script. “I have people in my life who kind of have this sce- nario so I wanted to maybe bring that to life and show people some things are worth staying for and some things are worth leaving for,” Baldwin said. “They fi ght whether it’s better to protect them here or protect them out there.” Since Baldwin is in Mc- Nary’s technical theatre class, she’s also building her own set. Kennadi Thomas and Abri- anna Feinauer also wrote and are directing their plays—Vin and I and Just Another Average Play. McNary drama director Tom Cavanaugh encouraged the students who wanted to both write and direct. “In the past when I did one acts at my previous school, the kids who wrote their own were way more excited and fi red up to do their piece than the kids who picked someone else’s,” Cavanaugh said. Condello received one of the more popular pieces—The InBetween by Kaitlyn Duncan- son, which tells the story of a girl named Finley, who is in a coma and meets two charac- ters, life and death, who try to convince her whether to live KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary siudenis, froni io back, Abrianna Feinauer, Rachel Herriges, Ivy Parker, Grace Condello, Saige Baldwin, Madelyn Hursi, Bella Fox, Jacob Friiis, Kennadi Thomas, Connor McCormack and noi piciured Jonas Honeyman and Rose Nason are direciing 10 original one aci plays on Jan. 18-20. or die. “It’s a really great script,” Condello said. “She (Duncan- son) did an amazing job on it. I loved it. I fought for it.” Both Condello and Bald- win have learned a lot. “There’s so many things that you have to keep track of as a director, lights and cues and you have to write in ev- erything in your script and make sure you have costumes and props,” Condello said. Sydnie Gould wrote two scripts, Inside, Outside and Ev- erywhere in Between, directed by Bella Fox, and Stuck in Traf- fi c, directed by Ivy Parker. The festival also includes The Golden Crane, written by Michael Hitchcock and di- rected by Jonas Honeyman and Madelyn Hurst; Fear is a Four Letter Word, written by Jordan Sheldon and directed by Rachel Herriges and Jacob Fritts; Fitzcarraldo, written by Wocus Gibbons and direct- ed by Rose Nason; and Odd School High: Anti-Love Project, written by Jaden Elders and directed by Connor McCor- mack. Fifty actors, who each au- ditioned for the directors, are participating. The One Act Festival con- tinues to grow at McNary after having seven original student directed and written plays the past two years. “A lot of kids wanted to SALES EVENT many shows we’re going to do. I just think it’s a chance to do something totally original. The kids get really fi red up for it.” orihodoniics for children, adolescenis & adulis WINTER WARM UP experience what directing was like,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s why there are so many. How many directors we have interested, that’s how OUR KEIZER OFFICE IS NOW OPEN 5099 RIVER RD N (In Schoolhouse Square) ATTENTION KEIZER HOMEOWNERS: Get cozy with Heat&Glo fi replaces, stoves or inserts. See salesperson for details. We are excited to become a part of the growing Keizer community. 2017 Invisalign ® and Tradiiional Braces Cusiomized Paymeni Plans Find Your Dream Fireplace COME SEE US TODAY! As an Energy Trust of Oregon trade ally, we can help you access cash incentives to make it easier to improve your home’s energy effi ciency. 1695 Market St NE, Salem CCB#48630 • 503.364.6339 homefi restove.com salemgrill.com FOR A FREE CONSULT CALL 503.362.0500 www.haveagreaismile.com