As school comes to a close, one of the many end-of-year traditions at BCA is the AVPA-T senior directed One Acts Play Festival. Though attending one acts as an audience member is a fun experience for many BCA students, many may not know what goes into putting these performances together. In fact, theatre seniors have a full year of a required directing class in order to prepare for One Acts, and this does not even consider how prior experience acting in and designing productions can help students become better directors. The Academy Chronicle had the pleasure of interviewing one of this year’s directors, Sisley Carretas, to share more about her directing process and experience.
Of course, the first step in directing is for the director to choose the piece they want to direct. There are many things that go into this decision, including the style of the play, the budget required, and the size of the cast. In Sisley’s case, she selected Wheel of Fortune Reversed by Scott Sickles, a story about Michael, a patient on his deathbed, pleading with Death to keep him alive.
“The moment I read it I knew I wanted to direct it,” said Sisley. “Visions and ideas flashed through my head.” These ideas in question manifested into a stage covered in tarot cards, a reference to the title of the play, a series of planned chess moves, and a blue lighting design to create an empty atmospheric mood.
The play choosing process was by no means easy for Sisley, though. Since plays are selected from a website called New Play Exchange, there’s a vast selection of plays to sift through in order to find the perfect one.
“There are an infinite amount of plays on there,” said Sisley. “So there was a lot of weeding through boring ones and poorly written ones.”
Next up, let’s talk about the directing process. The first thing that must happen before rehearsals begin is casting the play. One Acts auditions happen over the course of two days, where all of the directors select about a page of their one act that they feel represents the play or the characters well, and actors are randomly selected to read for certain characters. In Wheel of Fortune Reversed, Eve Antonelli, a sophomore in AVPA-T, was cast as Michael along with Luigi Aiello, a senior in AEDT, as Death.
“I loved one acts, and especially, working with my director,” said Eve. “Sisley has such a creative mind and I am so lucky to have been able to help her ideas come to life.”
The rehearsal process itself lasts about two months, from the start of Trimester 3 to the first weekend in June. Rehearsals take place twice a week either as a Monday/Thursday elective or Tuesday/Friday elective. When asked what she was able to learn throughout the directing process, Sisley said “I learned to stick to your gut.”
In Wheel of Fortune Reversed specifically, there is a large focus on the two characters, Death and Michael. Therefore, Sisley said that there needed to be a focus throughout the rehearsal process on the actors as well.
“You need to be aware of each actor’s needs,” said Sisley. “Also, helping your actors develop their characters will more and more help you understand your own play better.”
Overall, One Acts is not only a great opportunity for non-theatre students to try their hand at acting, but it’s also an opportunity for AVPA-T students to try their hand at directing. It is an amazing way for theatre seniors to showcase the skills they have learned throughout their creative training at BCA.
“I will miss Ms. Pero and Mr. Kaplan’s endlessly amazing ideas as well as working with the truly talented people I have met,” said Sisley. From all of the students in AVPA-T, we wish the Theatre Class of 2024 good luck on their future endeavors, break a leg, and we’ll miss you!
