Students have the opportunity to see professional performances at the School of Theater’s newest show.
The Festival of Solo Performance will feature three performers: Lisa Dalton, Doug Tompos and Luke Eddy. Dalton, actor, director, filmmaker, and coach, cofounded the National Michael Chekhov Association. Tompos, actor and playwright, has been featured on several television shows. Eddy is an actor known for his work in the theater, and the movement professor at OCU.
Each actor will perform a different play. Dalton will perform The Darling, Tompos will perform his original play Bent to the Flame, and Eddy will perform St. Nicolas.
The first play is St. Nicolas, a story about a washed-up theater critic who falls in love with a young actress and, consequently, is lured into the employ of a vampire coven.
“There’s a long and rich tradition of solo performance in the theater community,” said Lance Marsh, artistic director of theater and head of performance. “This is our first time ever doing anything like this.”
Marsh said the theater school’s goal in hosting the festival is to demonstrate to theater students the demand for self-created work among professional actors, and to expose students to different styles.
“The Festival of Solo Performance is going to be an amazing opportunity to see three very different plays and see them performed by professional actors from all over the country,” Marsh said. “I think it’s an opportunity that people don’t often have in front of them because of the sheer act of artistry that it takes to be a one person play.”
There will not be any students performing, but students from the theater school will handle lighting design, stage management, box office operations, and house management.
Students are excited for the opportunity to hear and see these performances.
“I think it seems like a very interesting way to showcase an actor’s actual ability,” said Atticus Dellinger, cell and molecular biology senior. “It seems like it’s a really raw type of performance.”
The festival will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 26-31 in the Black Box Theater in the Wanda L. Bass School of Music. Tickets are $8 for students and $15 for the general public. Visit okcu.edu/theatre or the box office in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center for tickets.
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