Final Preparations for One Act Play Festival
Underway

By Janine Leffler

As performances for the Riverbend School of Theatre approach excitement is
mounting. Be sure not to miss these wonderful student written and directed
performances. The talented student playwrights are Devon Labonte age 16, a sophomore at Alvirne High School in Hudson, playwright and director of Just Wait, Renee Reeves of Merrimack, a 17 year old home schooled student,
playwright and director of A Ghara and Sarah Gill age 16 of Gilford, playwright and director of The Wednesday Man.
Devon Labonte said the inspiration behind Just Wait came from a recent trip to
the dentist and the atmosphere of thewaiting room. She explained that
sometimes people can be nervous or uncomfortable in that
situation and strangers striking up conversations. She
feels her plays ties in very well to the setting. She has been impressed by the progress of her production.“So far we've gone through the play quite a few times, but we are at the point
that we need to focus on the little details and humor of the play.“
Just Wait stars Jonathan Edelblut, Emma Ayotte, Kat Feraco and Jessica Harper.
For JonathanEdelblut, a 17 year old homeschooler from Wilton a challenge he had to overcome
was to find a balance when it comes to his character’s personality and how he
relates to the other characters on stage. When it came to character development
he stated ““I think that breaking the "fourth wall" between the
actors and the audience is always present if the actors can bring the audience
into the scene with their characters.”

Sarah Gill is new to the Riverbend School Of Theatre Arts One Act play festival and will
hold this experience close to her for a long time. Her play The
Wednesday Man is a fictional piece that was inspired by her fascination with the job of every English teacher she has ever had. A character that stands out to her is D.B.
who is played by Alec Paulson of Hollis. This character is constantly challenging the way of thought of the main character that is played by Lucas Nevrlaof Amherst. She finds this character
very easy to relate to. Gill is looking forward to the performances “The theatre is beautiful and being given this opportunity is fantastic. I can't wait to see the show all done and in action.”
The Wednesday Man stars Lucas Nevrla,
Alec Paulson and John Sheridan.

Renee Reeves of Merrimack, playwright and director of A Ghara has enjoyed her first directing experience with the one act play festival
“This has been an entirely new experience from the beginning. I'd never watched
auditions before, never cast a play, never hosted a read-through, and never
done music direction. The cast has been energetic and creative, though, and
Toby and Lucas have been dependable support.” Along
her writing process Reeves researched St Bridget’s Complaint which is said to be
a tradition which dates back to 5th century Ireland. The idea behind St Bridget’s Complaint is
that St Patrick said that women could propose to
men on a February day during the leap year. One question Reeves considered in her research was “What If?” Shestated in a recent interview "What if, instead of viewing this as a
special opportunity, a young woman decided to exploit this tradition?"
"What if" is the question writers thrive on, and once you ask it doors
open everywhere.”
A Ghara stars Lily Ayotte, Elizabeth Long, Max Barnaby, Elizabeth Elkin, Haley Brannelly, Connor McDonald and Matt
Campbell.
Elizabeth Elkin, a sixteen year old sophomore at Hollis Brookline High School makes her
debut performance in the one act play festival as Noamh in A Ghara. She has enjoyed
getting to know and working with such a great cast. Her role is the most dramatic one she played
up to this point and she looks forward to the performances. She describes her character in the following
way “A lot of what she does isn't verbal, so playing her is more than just
saying lines. I've had to learn to show
rather than tell.”
Raven
Bartlett, a thirteen year old homeschooled eighth grader from Wilton is the
stage manager for the one act play festival.
Up to this point she has enjoyed her experience and is impressed by how
well written and well-cast the one act plays are. What stands out to her most
about the productions is the way the
characters interact with each other on stage.
She took notice of Jon Edelblut’s character Ben in Just Wait “Dr. Carter’s character is hysterical and it shows to me
that Jon is not afraid to put himself out there.”

The Seventh Annual Riverbend School of Theatre Arts One Act Play Festival has two
evening performances at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30pm on January 27th and 28th. Tickets are $5.00 at the door.

Part 2 of a two part series
Part one was publlished today
Part 2 will be published next week.


Due to budget cuts the Cabinet and Telegraph are cutting their freelancer budget in half. I am hoping that this will not be the last article that I write for them. In the event that it is I will be exteremly disheartened. Through my time is a freelancer I have wrtiten many articles and learned so much about the process of putting a play together through my writing process. I have nuilt up quite the portfolio over time and it will definitley benefit me when I apply for other freelance jobs.