Evening of one-act plays to kick off Theatre Northwest fall season

Northwest Missouri State University’s 2024-25 season of theater productions opens Sept. 26-28 with “A Fall Evening of One-Acts,” featuring four student-directed plays, each consisting of minimal characters and a runtime of 10 to 15 minutes. 

The plays begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box theater, located on the lower floor of the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts on the Northwest campus.

Tickets are $6 and may be purchased online, beginning Wednesday, Sept. 18, at rj2.gemeinde-kreativ.net/finearts/theatre/ or at the box office one hour prior to showtime.

“It is our hope that community members will attend ‘A Fall Evening of One-Acts’ to support this profession-based learning experience for the creative growth of our theatre students,” Katheryn E Bilbo, a Northwest associate professor of theatre, said. “We are proud of their talent and drive for excellence, and they look forward to sharing their hard work with audiences.”

The evening’s one-act plays are:

• “The Barbarians Are Coming,” written by Luigi Jannuzi and directed by Adam Clayton, a comedy about two medieval lords who are having tea time when a peasant interrupts and tells them the barbarians are coming.
• “Roll Over Beethoven,” written by David Ives and directed by Jackson Faulkner, depicts how a piano student and his teacher learn from each other.
• “Flowers From Our Father,” written by Carl Williams and directed by Erin Frink, shows turmoil between two sisters after the death of their father.
• “Where the Fireworks Come From,” written by Michael Pisaturo and directed by Billie McCoy is a coming-out story about Tony and Gabe watching fireworks and the intense emotions that come from exploring the unknown in small-town suburbia.

Producing one-act plays is a component of Theatre Northwest’s Lab Series, which features productions directed, acted, designed and stage-managed by students and is required for speech and theatre education majors.

Theatre Northwest’s fall schedule continues Oct. 3-6 with the annual First-Year Showcase, “The Shady Lady: A Robust Blend of Privilege, Influence, and White-Collar Crime,” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Nov. 14-17, before concluding with the annual Alpha Psi Omega children’s show on Dec. 15.