Feb. 1, 2021
Central Theatre Ensemble to Present Annual Short Works Festival to the World
Central Washington University Theatre Arts will presents its annual Short Works Festival on Friday and Saturday, February 5-6. This year, the festival will be available to a worldwide audience, as it will be presented virtually via Zoom beginning at at 7:30 p.m. each night.
This year’s festival will feature these short works:
- Alone, conceived and directed by Kaela Buffum Hogan, senior, Aurora, Colorado;
- The Hashbrown Monologues, written by Aster Knudson, senior, Ellensburg, and directed by Isaac Pauls, senior, Seattle;
- The Imagination Bar, written by Conner Fochesato, junior, Arlington, and directed by Sidney Reichert, junior, Butte, Montana; and,
- Probability, written by Caelyn White, senior, Olympia, and directed by Knudson.
“The festival allows our extremely talented students a chance to explore and push the boundaries of theatre making,” said Patrick Dizney, CWU Theatre Arts associate chair. “These are original pieces that offer students a chance to apply their skills and artistry in a real world situation. They’re responsible for all facets of the productions.”
Typically, the works range from amusing to irreverent and even thought-provoking, often reflecting students’s current concerns, interests, and world views.
“Audiences are consistently surprised and challenged by the caliber of work these young artists produce,” Dizney added. “This year is bound to be an extremely compelling festival, since our students have been dealing with a pandemic for almost a year now, and I suspect they have a lot to say.”
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for non-CWU students, and free for CWU students. For tickets or additional information, visit https://www.cwu.edu/theatre/current-productions. As the festival includes mature language and themes, parental guidance is recommended.
The Short Works Festival, which began in 2017, was developed out of the Betty Evans One Act Festivals which dates back to 1995. Evans, who taught playwriting at CWU from 1967 to 1997, frequently appeared on stage and directed numerous university productions herself.