In Actually, senior musical theater major Adrian Williams and
sophomore theater major Miranda Schuck perform the roles of Tom and Amber. The
two connect at a raucous party during their freshman year at Princeton, and later
find themselves in unclear territory, as their actions have impacts that could
affect their rest of their lives.
Williams and Schuck are
the only two actors in the 85-minute performance of Actually, which, through dialogue, jumps back and forth in time and
place. The play was written by Anna Ziegler.
A third of the IUP
students traveling to the festival will compete as actors. Others have
submitted work that will be judged on costume design, lighting, sound or set design,
technical, and stage management.
“I learned so much in this production,”
sophomore theater major and assistant lighting designer and board operator Hannah
Kosela said. “I was working as light board operator for Actually while I was lighting designer for IUP’s production of Pippin. Switching back and forth between
those two very different plays and jobs was like going from right brain to left
brain. I asked Ethan four billion questions and he’d answer four billion times.
He’d gently guide me to understand that I already knew what I was asking.”