Nine to Phive: One-Act Play Festival Debut of "Sheltered"

"In the not-too-distant future, a nuclear bomb threat forces seven unlikely people to take shelter in a cramped nuclear fallout shelter. Inside the shelter, they encounter a mysterious tunnel that shouldn’t be there, a romantic poetry reading, and a phone call that tells them the world is going to end. Will they be able to survive nuclear warfare? And more importantly, are there enough Cheerios to last until then?"

This plot synopsis for the play "Sheltered" is a meager sampling of the genius that is Greg Coles. He is an immensely talented musician, author, and now theater director--but I don't want to give away too much! I hope that he will end up in an Artist Inspiration post before too long.

At any rate, Josh and I had the pleasure of spending the last six weeks preparing for the debut of Greg's first play at the RWC One-Acts Festival. It was a bit of a time commitment (especially since Josh was also in one of the other One-Acts), but it was some the best fun we have had in our time at Roberts.

Here are some photos of the event courtesy of Rachel Crosby.

In "Playwriting 101", my surrogate sister Seana plays a girl trying to commit suicide while lovable Michaela portrays a good Samaritan trying to convince her to not go through with the deed. Allie Stewart, also a surrogate sister with whom Josh and I will be gallivanting about Europe next semester, plays a college professor who continuously pauses, rewinds, and replays the action of the play in order to use it as an example of what to do and not to do when writing a good play. Hilarity and chaos ensue when the characters realize that they have the power to ignore the teacher's self-important pronouncements.

You better believe I added a bloody Halloween effect to this in Picnik . . .

In "Voices," the protagonist, played by the lovely Kim whom I had the pleasure of working with as an extra on the set of King's Faith, is tormented after the unexpected death of her little sister by the embodiments of various voices in her head--voices such as Anger, Uncertainty, Pain, and Hopelessness. In the end, she is driven to distraction by these voices and accepts the out provided to her--Death. I wish I didn't have to give away the ending, but Joshy played the character of Death who ultimately entices Kim's characters to take her life. He was a Creepy McCreepster in a suit--and super sexy ;-)

Josh and I both played roles in "Sheltered." Josh was a mopey and love-lorn romantic, and I was an adventurous feminist dressed like Terri Irwin. We were awesome.