THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009
NEWS
3A
THEATER
Students compete for best play
jtorline@kansan.com
With March Madness underway, a group of student playwrights will compete in their own Final Four this weekend.
particpants
The following student plays will be competing:
Friday night:
"Cheeseburger Nation"
by Brian Highberger
Saturday night:
"The Tragedy of Empty Streets" by A.J. Mathews
Lim, the founder of English Alternative Theatre, organized the event. He chose four student plays — two comedies and two serious plays — from his Introductory Playwriting class to be performed in the Final Four competition.
English Alternative Theatre is bringing back its Final Four competition of one-act plays after a more than five-year absence. The student plays will be performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Black Box theater at the Lawrence Arts Center.
"It's always interesting to me to see what students are writing about," Paul Stephen Lim, professor of English, said.
"The Importance of Conversation in a Monologue" by Joe Scott
"Eli Touched, Whitney Ginned" by Brett Runyon
The comedies are "Cheeseburger Nation" by Brian Highberger, Garnett junior, and "The Importance of Conversation in a Monologue" by Joe Scott, Wichita senior. The serious plays are "The Tragedy of Empty Streets" by A.J. Mathews, Overland Park
The winning plays from each night will compete on Sunday.
senior, and "Eli Touched, Whitney Ginned" by Brett Runyon, who graduated in December.
The comedies will be performed on Friday night and the serious plays will be on Saturday night. The audience votes on the plays each night, and the two winning plays will compete again on Sunday afternoon. The winners from each night will receive cash prizes.
"The plays are in progress and the audience writes down feedback notes so that the playwrights will benefit from viewer feedback." Lim said.
Faculty, staff and students will act in the plays and have been rehearsing all week.
All four student playwrights have
only recently begun playwriting, and this is the first time for each of them to have one of their plays produced.
"What makes it so scary is having another person portrait a character you created." Mathews said. "It's nerve-wracking."
"I took a lot of language for my play from that series," Runyon said.
The students' inspiration for the plays ranged from history classes to family members to the HBO series "Deadwood."
Lim founded English Alternative Theatre,the department of English's producing organization, in 1989 to help develop new scripts by KU students and to nurture local
FINAL FOUR COMPETITION OF ONE-ACT PLAYS
**WHAT:** English Alternative Theatre's competition of four student plays
**WHEN:** 7:30 p.m. Friday,
7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: The black box theater in the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St.
HOW MUCH: Free
talent. Lim said that throughout the years, nearly 30 student plays and programs had received awards from around the country.
He said the competition would give the audience a chance to enjoy local talent from students.
"It's terrific to be able to contribute to the process because something that the audience says by way of feedback is going to be considered seriously by the playwrights." Lim said. "The audience will be able to shape and make the plays better."
The "Final Four" has come early for University of Kansas student playwrights. Professor Paul Lim has chosen four students from his introductory playwriting class to compete in the English Alternative Theater at the Lawrence Arts Center. Wichita senior Joe Scott, Garnett junior Brian Highberger, Overland Park senior A.J. Matthews and Overland park graduate Brett Runyon are involved in the March Madness.
Edited by Liz Schubauer
Libby Napoli/KANSAN
POOL (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
build the aquatics center southeast of the building. McGonigle said the three different options would vary in price, but costs would be divided proportionally between the students and the department.
Sandi Differding, Lawrence junior, and Robinson Center pool manager, said she thought there would be plenty of student support in 2011 when the new aquatics center proposal would be voted on.
Robinson currently has a 25-meter pool, built in 1980, and a 25-yard competition pool and diving well, built in 1969.
"The new pool would make the students happy," Differding said. "Robinson is still a good pool and serves its purpose, but it's getting pretty old and it would be nice to have a recreational area that isn't strictly limited to a pool with just
lane ropes."
McGonigle said the student body president for the 2011-2012 school year would be given all the floor plans, cost estimates, a general idea where funding was coming from and how the partnership was going to work.
"The economic aspect supersedes this project," McGonigle said. "We're just waiting for the right time and it's disappointing, but it would not be the responsible thing to do right now."
"It's really been so impressive to see the impact that one student can
proposed pools
Mike Harrity, assistant athletics director for student athlete development and community relations, said any time a student leader like McGonigle came to the Athletics Department with an idea, it would listen and support it if it could.
OPTION #3 would have the most amenities with a 50-meter pool, a separate diving well and both indoor and outdoor aquatic spaces at an estimated cost of $19 million in student recreation fees and $19.2 million from Athletics Department funding.
OPTION #1 would be the most basic plan, with a 50-meter pool and indoor aquatic spaces, at an estimated cost of $17 million in student recreation fees and $13 million from Athletics Department funding.
OPTION #2 would include a 50-meter pool, indoor aquatic spaces and outdoor aquatic spaces at an estimated cost of $19.1 million in student recreation fees and $17.3 million from Athletics Department funding.
have on a campus our size."Harrity said. "He's been phenomenal in his research, in exploring the whole issue, the feasibility of it, and when he came here and said the delay was the best thing for the student body, we fully agreed and supported him."
Harrity also said his department was always trying to raise funds and it had come a long way under Lew Perkins' direction.
"This delay in the project does give us more time and that's always a good thing." Harrity said.
what we've completed, they're going to be able to move forward with this project swiftly and an aquatic center will be built on this campus," McGonigle said.
85% of those polled favored the Aquatic Center
15% of those polled opposed the Aquatic Center
Edited by Justin Leverett
Despite the postponement, McGonigle said he had complete confidence that the project would happen.
"When those senate leaders come together in 2011, and look at what we've accomplished and
use for women and by women in general."
Dana Schmidt, Wichita junior, is the director of the play and said that she recited one of the monologues in the play performance last year, but that this year the play was centered around her vision.
MONOLOGUES (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Focus groups consisting of 525 students from student groups who voted on the Aquatic Center. Although the project has been delayed, it is expected to be completed in two years.
"I did the set design and have been holding rehearsals and helping the actors to develop the monologues," Schmidt said.
Schmidt said she appreciated the variety of the monologues.
"Some of them are hilarious, some of them are more moving, and some of them are pretty depressing, actually," Schmidt said. "But they're just really well-written and pretty simple, which is
always nice."
Flanders said she hoped students would see the play because it was a topic that women could benefit from, and because the proceeds were going to a good cause.
"It's about empowerment, education and just having a good time," Flanders said.
- Edited by Sam Speer