Theatre, dance events bookend Ovation Festival

The Department of Theatre and Dance will be introducing the student-directed play, “Marisol,” from the 10 Minute Play Festival, as a part of this year’s Ovation.
The 10 Minute Play Festival features the work of students taking Introduction to Directing, an undergraduate level class at Baldwin Wallace University.
Students go through the process of producing a ten-minute play they may find in a suggested anthology, or some students will even write their own, said Professor Scott Plate, department chair of theatre and dance.
Students then will go through a preproduction process, said Plate, which teaches students how to work on a script from the director’s perspective, as well as go through the casting process by holding a casting session, and learn how to work on scene work.
“At the end of it, you’re going to see thirteen 10 minute plays in one evening,” said Plate, “so it’s a culmination of their work.”
The play, Marisol by Jose Rivera will be presented at Ovation this year. The play was directed by Professor Anjanette Hall, the assistant professor of theatre.
The play is about Marisol, a female Puerto Rican who slowly unlearns cultural appropriation that’s forced upon her, said Tristan Rivera, senior theatre acting and directing major and assistant director.
The characters that Marisol interacts with have some toxic behaviors that are showcased intentionally by the playwright, said Rivera, that can be connected to things we see in our own lives.
“Marisol discovers her heritage,” he said, “and starts taking away all of the assimilation in a magical way.”
The goal is to showcase the diversity of the intellectual interests at this University, said Plate, by studying something and then communicating your passion to others and getting other people interested.
“I hope what students take away, he said, “is the excellence that comes from really committing yourself to the study of something.”
Marisol is set to be performed April 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre with the 10 Minute Play Festival being held April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the same location.