Tess Nunan ‘24, Max Bennet ‘26 and Colin Sweeney ‘24 in The Understudy directed by Kevin Cullen. ANGELINAPEREZ/THEQUADRANGLE
By Emmanouel Sofillas and Matty Schule, Asst. Sports Editor and Staff Writer
In a celebration of creativity and talent, Manhattan College students took center stage in a series of performances at the One Acts theater festival. The event, hosted by MC Players, featured a collection of short plays directed and acted by the students. The students displayed their passion for theater and ability to bring stories to life in a ten-minute time frame.
The festival, held in Smith Auditorium, drew a large crowd eager to witness the various plays the students had prepared. From compelling dramas to comedies, each offered a different perspective and left an impression on the audience.
English and adolescent education major Colin Sweeney played the role of the director in “The Understudy,” a short comedy about a director and an actress getting into a heated argument. Sweeney expressed how he felt being on the stage.
“Because of my part I have to come up with a lot of lines on the spot and always wonder how everyone will react to what I think will work the whole time,” Sweeney said.
Directed by Kevin Cullen, the play was met with plenty of laughs from the audience. Cullen spoke to The Quadrangle about his passion for directing.
“Directing has been a new step because previously, I was only an assistant director [so] this is entirely new,” Cullen said. “[Directing] provided a challenge and was really the push that you’re not going to find anywhere because it’s a little hard to find opportunities to direct.”
Students involved in the One Acts were able to make many memories and have fun throughout the process. One of these students was sophomore Kevin Kane, a mechanical engineering student who played the Host in the production of Bobby’s Brain.
“I had such a great time,” Kane said. “One of the most fun parts was working with people because our little mistakes and having fun with the acting made the show a lot better, and we ended up incorporating those things into the final show.”
Kane also told The Quadrangle about his favorite moment in the entire production, which he shared with his fellow actors during the technical week leading up to the show.
“There was one day where we were joking around so much on stage that we couldn’t get through the end of the show because we were laughing too hard,” Kane said. “Kevin Cullen kept saying Bazinga during his adlibs, and another gentleman named Landon Schofield also kept screaming Bazinga during the interactive parts of the show and it kept making us laugh because they wouldn’t shut up.”
Cullen expressed his gratitude for directing his performance with a cast as willing to bring his visions to light as he was.
“I’m just so proud of my cast; they really did such a great job,” Cullen said. “They had such great ideas and made my job a lot easier because of them. I’m so glad they wanted to be a part of this and had as much fun as they did with it.”
As the festival’s performances finished, echoing applause filled the air. With anticipation for next year’s festival already building, One Acts will be back with more to come.