By Linda Song
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006, The OG, news

ON NOV. 16, WITH just four rehearsals under the belts of the Student Production casts and directors, three audience members sat in the North Attic, pencils and papers ready to take notes on the performances.

The notetakers were from the Illinois High School Theatre Festival, a three-day annual event that attracts an estimated 4,000 students and teachers each January. Theatre Fest consists of more than 25 theatrical performances and 150 workshops. This year's festival will be held Jan. 4-6 on the campus of the University of Illinois.

On that mid-November day, excitement and nerves animated the Uni directors and actors. That's because the Theatre Fest representatives had come to evaluate the four Stud Prod plays for possible inclusion in the festival. According to fine arts teacher Barbara Ridenour, this was the first time Uni High had submitted student plays to Theatre Fest.

Over Thanksgiving break, the directors and casts of two of the plays found out the good news: Jackie Hedeman's “Cyrano Slanted” and Krista Olson's “I'd Like Two Avocado Sandwiches, Hold the Cranberries” had been selected for the festival.

Hedeman's and Olson's plays will be performed as a one-hour showcase at 9 and 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 5 in the University of Illinois Music Building. As a result of their plays' selection, the two seniors will also conduct their own workshop on playwriting and directing following the second performance of their plays.

There are several more weeks until Theatre Fest starts, and the directors are eager and thankful for the time to go over and polish their plays before the big shows.

“I'm really excited,” Olson said. “It was a huge surprise, and I think it's a big honor. It'll be a great experience to share the play with people outside Uni.”

Ridenour noted that the Theatre Fest evaluators had to limit their selections to the number of plays that would fit within a 60-minute time frame; otherwise, she said, all four would probably have been chosen.

Theatre Fest performances are open only to registered festival participants, so most Uni students and faculty won't be able to see the plays in January. But everyone at Uni will have a chance to watch all four student plays — not just Olson's and Hedeman's — this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the North Attic Playhouse. Look for a Stud Prod preview coming soon.

Summaries of Jackie's and Krista's plays

“Cyrano Slanted”
written & directed by Jackie Hedeman
This is based on “Cyrano de Bergerac,” and it's also an everyone/everywhere story about high school and friendship. Agnes and Michael are friends, but when Michael asks for Agnes' help with asking Melissa out on a date, this forces Agnes to examine her own feelings and how to balance her friendship with those feelings.

Cast
Agnes …….. Larissa Pittenger
Michael …… Robert Croisant
Melissa ……. Hannah Lake-Rayburn

“I'd Like Two Avocado Sandwiches, Hold the Cranberries”
written & directed by Krista Olson
There's Marco, who is obsessed with sandwiches, and Julia, who is obsessed with bagels. They meet when she leaves a magazine in the park. And there's Nolan, who is Marco's brother. He works with Julia at a café. But Marco and Nolan don't realize they both know Julia. And then there's Olivia, Nolan's “eye candy” girlfriend, and Leslie, Julia's best friend. Basically, chaos ensues.

Cast
Marco …… Devin Johnson
Julia ……… Michelle Gao
Nolan ……. Rohun Palekar
Leslie ……. Lor Sligar
Olivia ……. Eunice How