Elizabeth Shortall, theatre major at St. Edward’s University, directs her very first 10-minute play. For the final project in her directing class, each senior is responsible for choosing a play, casting the actors, and making decisions about everything from lights, sound, and props.
“Before you find a show it takes about 5 to 7 hours of reading solid scripts.” Shortall said before choosing the short play Poof! by Lynn Nottage. “When I laugh out loud, I know I have something. If you laugh reading it you know people will laugh watching it.” Poof! Is a short play about a wife, Loureen, whose husband combusts out of thin air. Loureen and her friend, Florence, must decide what to do with the husband’s ashes.
Eva Jimenez and Jackie Harper are chosen for the parts of Loureen and Florence. Shortall talks to the actors about dramatic action and breaks down her play into 14 units.
“It is really challenging to work on a professional level with friends,” Shortall said. “It is good to leave everything at the door.”
“She is very quirky and youthful and I knew she would take the role to the extreme,” Shortall said about casting Harper. “I knew she wouldn’t be afraid to try anything.” During rehearsal Harper writes down blocking directions on her script.
Shortall looked at 1950’s photographs of housewives and kitchens to get inspiration for the setting and costumes. Shortall inspects one of the many dresses Harper tries on during the costume fitting.
Making sure the 10-minute play runs at exactly 10-minutes or less is one of the major requirements for the student directors. Shortall uses an itouch to time her play during the rehearsal.
“I think I have spent about 170 hours on this project,” Shortall said. She is feeling the pressure as she works with the light and sound technicians the day before the first show. “Once you do the tech you no longer have control. It is a big risk to give your project to a group of people and have no control,” She said.
Shortall sits in the theatre seats as her directing teacher, David Long, speaks to the student directors about the tech rehearsal. Shortall was in Group B and was the first student director to go in her group. On the day of tech rehearsal her father, Tom Shortall, was present. An already nervous Shortall said it added more pressure to the day.
Jimenez takes the curlers out of her hair before the show. “I worked with her before and I casted her because I wanted a reliable person.” Shortall said about casting Jimenez. “She was older and more professional and it helped raise the bar for Jackie.”
Harper curls her hair to get the 1950’s look for her costume. Meanwhile Shortall fans herself to cool down from the heat of the hair curlers and nerves.
Jimenez and Harper take the stage to perform Poof!. “I feel like I have learned more about acting in this directing class than any of my other classes,” Shortall said. “Being a director is nerve racking, but the reward is greater in the end.”
Shortall enjoys a piece of cake after the play while her friend, Hans Klein, drinks some wine. Klein is one of the 11 senior directors with Shortall and has been a theatre major with her since their freshman year. “I always wanted to direct and it is really bittersweet to work with your friends in the class,” She said. Shortall will be graduating in May and her next destination will be New York or Chicago.
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