By The Carroll College Theater Department hosted “Fade to Black,” a short play festival on Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3. Carroll students directed, costumed, built props, and designed projections for the performances.
As part of the directing class, each student directs a short play of their choice. They lead the production from the script selection to casting to wrapping the final show. The costuming class creates all of the costumes for the plays.
“It is always a great chance to get students hosting plays and auditions. It’s nice when we interact with the campus and the Helena community,” said Nancy Harper, a adjunct professor at Carroll College who teaches acting and many other theater classes.
The plays can be anywhere from gut-busting comedies to heart-wrenching tragedies. They are student-run and range in cast size, some have two actors and others have as many as sixteen.
With one of the largest directing classes in the department’s history, the production was split into two sections: the first for light-hearted scenes that children may enjoy and the second for more mature audiences.
Looking to next semester, the play “Twelfth Night” will be performed on Thursday, March 2, through Sunday, March 11. The play is about two twins, Viola and Sebastian. They run into a storm and get separated in a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man, and accidentally makes Countless Olivia fall in love with her thinking she is a man.
“Charlotte’s Web” is another show that will be played and acted by Carroll students at Helena Middle School on Apr. 21 through Sunday Apr. 30. All the middle schools in Helena will meet in their gym to watch the performance.
Auditions will be hosted during Christmas break and in late January.
