Maryville College Theatre students present ‘Advents,’ works of ‘great occurrence’ in night of short plays
Nov. 27, 2023
It is a season of great epiphanies, and what better way to commemorate it, according to Maryville College Visiting Lecturer of Theatre Andy Vaught, than with a series of student plays that reflect their own growth as student-artists?
On Friday, Dec. 1, the MC Theatre Department will present “Advents,” a night of original works by sophomore Clara Webster ’26 and juniors Emi Tippens ’25 and Aja Cofer ’25. The title of the collection, Vaught said, isn’t meant to be a specific reference to the holiday season, but it fits the overarching theme of new beginnings and spiritual awakenings.
“These are not religious plays, but they do explore the notion of a great occurrence of some kind,” said Vaught, now in his second year as head of MC Theatre. “We have a talking teddy bear; someone who continually shoots off into an imaginary dream world; and a sort of bitter ‘Golden Girls’ scenario going on. It’s another chance to do original work in a great facility, with a talented staff and what I think is a really great program.”
Webster, a Political Science major, will present a short play titled “Ten Years Ago,” while Tippens — majoring in Theatre Studies will present the work “Bids for Connection.” The final work of the one-night-only production, “Third-Party Breakup,” is written and directed by Cofer, a Writing Communication major. According to Vaught, one of the challenges of combining all three into “Advents” is challenging the students to create interesting works with a set directive and a deadline. Each student had roughly a month to pen their scripts, Vaught said, and each will bring a unique perspective to the stage.
“I’ve worked with all three students before. Aja, I’m just really impressed with the uniqueness of her writing, and I was hoping we could explore that,” he said. “Emi has this great mind, and I love how she sees the whole big picture of things. And Clara has this really wicked sense of humor, and I wanted to see her explore that. It’s sort of a round-robin of creation, and we’re all excited to see what they come up with.”
This marks the second year of what Vaught hopes will become a seasonal tradition: A collection of works with themes tied to the great occurrences that make the holidays sacred and special, while giving student writers and actors an opportunity to explore originality and creativity. “Advents” comes on the heels of an October production of “The Laramie Project,” which Vaught said allowed MC Theatre students to grow in unexpected and unique ways.
“I think we really tried to come up with as many experiences as we could to encourage further growth from the play,” he said. “We couldn’t tell this really heavy story and say, ‘OK, goodnight! Enjoy your Netflix before you go to bed!’ For the actors, it was a really profound experience, especially since they got to talk to Dennis Shepard (the father of Matthew Shepard, the murdered gay man at the heart of “The Laramie Project”).
“I thought that deepened it for the students, and sort of sent home the continuum of what we’re doing, of how this play has been performed by many people all over the world, and that it continues to need to be performed. At the same time, they realized he’s a really funny guy, and seeing him use humor, I think, gave them permission to use it, too, and that made ‘The Laramie Project’ even more special.”
For the spring production, Maryville College Theatre is going lighter — and bigger, Vaught added. “Oliver!,” a musical take on the classic Charles Dickens tale of orphans and street urchins, will be staged in the 1,200-seat Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts as a collaboration with Broadway Center for the Arts, a children’s theatrical troupe based in Maryville.
“I’ve never done a show in the Nutt, so this will be a really new experience for me,” Vaught said. “And I’m really pleased that we’ll be working with (long-time MC Art Professor) Dr. Carl Gombert. This will be one of the last things he works on before he retires in the spring, so I’m really happy to collaborate with him before he leaves.
“We’ll hold auditions in January when we come back (from the holiday break). I’m a big fan of musicals, and I chose ‘Oliver!’ for a lot of different reasons. It’s a very ‘music hall’ show, which I think we’re going to run with, with a great score, and it’s really funny. I’m excited for the students to tackle it, because it’s full of melodrama in a lot of ways, and it’s a tragedy with a happy ending.”
In the meantime, “Advents” will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, in the Haslam Family Flexible Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts on the MC campus. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the MC Division of Fine Arts at 865-981-8150.