Chapman’s Student Playwrights: A celebration of creating something out of nothing
Illustration by Sami Seyedhosseini, Cartoonist
On Mar. 14 at Musco Lawn, the audience gasped in terror, laughed with joy and sat attentively all in one night during Chapman’s Student Playwrights’ (CSP) third annual playwrights festival.
CSP is a play development club that allows students to write, workshop and produce their own works. During the fall, a number of student playwrights submit their works to CSP, then five are selected to be workshopped and produced in the spring semester. Every year, this club’s annual play festival showcases the chosen works and their progress.
Karli Jean Lonnquist, senior theatre and peace studies double major, founded CSP. As the club’s president, she noted the importance of this event for not only the club, but for the playwrights themselves.
“It is less of a super polished performance and more of a celebration of what you can do creating something out of nothing,” said Lonnquist.
The plays that are chosen for the festival go through weekly workshops for six consecutive weeks in preparation for the day of performance.
Business administration major Alison Holmes is the club’s assistant producer. With this being their first year at CSP, they note how these plays get chosen.
“We like when plays come to us in a rough draft state,” said Holmes. “We really get to experience molding and shaping it with the playwright and that is really important to us.”
This spring semester, the five chosen plays consisted of a laundry room, bleeding paintings, toilets, drugs and a broken down car.
“Laundry Room” – Written By Isabel Hau
Based on the laundry room in one of Chapman’s very own dorm halls, this play’s final form personifies left-behind articles of clothing. With humor and mystery, the audience follows along to discover who left behind a lost sock left in Pralle-Sodaro Hall’s second floor laundry room.
This play includes a wet blanket, a frilly dress, a hoodie and a lone sock.
“The voice of the characters came out over time with the combination of the playwriting group’s creative voices and my friends,” said freshman playwright and creative writing and history major Isabel Hau. “All the voices in my life bled into these characters.”
“Whispers” – Written By Keenan Dyrby
Throughout this play, depictions of artistry and perfectionism were visually displayed in a relatable manner. Through worry and fear from the audience, we follow characters Morgan and Andi as they move into a new apartment and experience the horror of a basement creature.
There are realities of self-doubt not all can understand, especially in creative fields such as artistry. This play highlights the dangers that come alongside perfectionism and how important community is.
“We have all seen (the voice creature). It prevents you from reaching where you want to be,” said playwright and theatre major Keenan Dyrby. “Self-criticism is horrible. It takes away the creativity you can potentially have.”
“Franklin” – Written By Vince Boberski
Laughter roared throughout the crowd as playwright and writing for film and television major Vince Boberski starred in his very own play. “Franklin” depicts relationships children have with their parents and how impactful these stories can become. This play humorously follows a father and son in the bathroom on the toilet. It represents unsettling parent-children power dynamics that can affect the children’s behaviors later in life.
When father-son relationships turn corrupt, it leads to questions of what impacts may be left on the son and his future. Boberski’s play conveys its themes in a deceptively humorous way that leaves the audience with a lasting impression.
“There are a lot of bad men in the world,” said Boberski. “I wanted to look at the harmless facade that is painted on this stuff and break it down.”
“Escape From Asphodel” – Written by Wylie Wagnon
Strict attention was given to this playwright's piece with its powerful themes of substance abuse and societal pressures, all the while emphasizing the importance of family. With sound effects and ominous lighting, this play’s performance depicts experiences with drug use and how important the help of loved ones can be.
“Escape From Asphodel” utilizes elements from Greek mythology, where “Asphodel” is an in-between state. In this play, the audience follows the main character, Keegan, who is stuck between life and death with the struggle of drug use while fighting with the voices in his head.
The message of this piece comes into play when Keegan’s decisions and actions begin to affect his sister, Kailey. The audience views Kailey in different worlds — one with her brother and one without — displaying the consequences that can come from misusing drugs.
“I thought (Greek mythology) was a nice way to let out Keegan's subconscious and use these ideas that can create a story," said playwright and theatre performance major Wylie Wagnon.
“Car Play” – Written by Charlotte Estrin
More laughter filled the air with the closing one-act play by creative writing major Charlotte Estrin. This storyline follows characters Nora, Jamie and Anne with witty banter on a road trip to their friend’s wedding.
“I put a little bit of myself in all of (the characters),” said Estrin. “Some of these moments are bits of truth.”
These post-graduate characters exemplify that there is never a known future once you are done with college. People and plans change and throughout this play, and through the use of secrets, jokes and conflict, the audience is able to understand that life has its unexpected ups and downs.
With the clear messaging of this play, navigating adulthood, friendships and finding yourself became lightheartedly displayed on stage.
“I really enjoy, after the festival, seeing every playwright talking to the loved ones that came to support them. There is a lot of joy, whether it is perfect or not,” said Lonquist.
Both Lonquist and Holmes have had notable experiences with CSP and have been given many opportunities to work with amazing students and their works.
“I really enjoy being able to look at all the talent that exists at Chapman,” said Holmes.
Through CSP, students’ talent and creativity shines through and creates a community for all to feel welcome, from writers to actors or even just the audience.”