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The student-directed plays “The White Liars” and “Black Comedy” were performed by UNK Theatre students this week at the Miriam Drake Theatre. The shows ran from Nov. 17-21.
The one acts are performed in succession despite being two stand-alone plays.
“The author wrote two one-acts,” said Bryce Emde, UNK senior and student director of “Black Comedy.” “Each one has different characters and a different plot. The two pieces are always performed together.”
The UNK theatre team worked on the plays all the way until opening night.
“During the prep work, we lost a couple of days,” said Danny Grimm, UNK senior and student director of “The White Liars”. “Some of the set was still being finished on Wednesday night but we all got it sorted out before the show.”
Grimm worked with the set designer to make his vision come to life.
“I originally had this idea of the tarot cards you see on set,” Grimm said. “The set designer came to me with the idea of framing the cards with crystals and I thought it fit perfectly. It transitioned into the set for ‘Black Comedy’ easily.”
For some cast members, this is their first time being in a production at UNK.
“My favorite part about this production is getting to learn more about how theatre is run collaboratively, since I’m not a theatre minor or major,” said Olivia Longmore, UNK freshman and cast member of “The White Liars”. “I also love getting to know and hanging out with the cast and crew members.”
Other cast members are saying goodbye to UNK following this production.
“This is going to be my last production here,” said Tony Koetters, UNK senior and cast member of “Black Comedy”. “I’m really excited because it’s one of the first times I’ve taken the role in a comedy production.”
Koetters was looking forward to delivering the punchlines in “Black Comedy”.
“There’s a bit in the end that is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read or performed in my opinion,” Koetters said. “Having the punchline for it is special. I’ve never been the guy who gets to have the punchline in the end, and I think that’s really cool.”
The cast and team members of both plays have worked together to make the performance what it is.
“I’m really proud of my cast,” Grimm said. “They memorized their lines quickly, the set came together beautifully and the costumes were the perfect finishing touch.”
Longmore hopes the audience enjoyed their performances as much as she has.
“The script for ‘The White Liars’ is very intricate,” Longmore said. “I hope that the audience gets to experience the underlying raw emotion of each of those characters. As for ‘Black Comedy’, I hope that the audience laughs as hard as I do every night backstage.
